मरणं मे समासेन कथयेन्दुसमानने । किं सुखं मरणं किं वा दुःखं मृत्वा च किं भवेत्
O moon-faced one, briefly tell me about death: what makes death pleasant, what makes it painful, and what happens after dying?
त्रिविधाः पुरुषास् सन्ति देहस्यान्ते मुमूर्षवः । मूर्खो ऽथ धारणाभ्यासी युक्तिमान् पुरुषस् तथा
There are three types of people at the end of the body who wish to die: the ignorant, the practitioner of concentration, and the person endowed with discernment.
अभ्यस्य धारणाश् चेष्टा देहं त्यक्त्वा यथासुखम् । प्रयाति धारणाभ्यासी युक्तियुक्तस् तथैव च
Having practiced concentration, the practitioner and the one possessing discernment depart happily, leaving the body behind.
धारणा यस्य नाभ्यासं प्राप्ता नैव स मुक्तिभाक् । मूर्खस् स्वमृतिकाले ऽसौ दुःखम् एत्य् अवशाशयः
One who has not attained the practice of concentration does not gain liberation; the ignorant, at the time of their own death, experiences suffering, helpless and without hope.
वासनावेशवैवश्यं भावयन् विषयाशयः । दीनतां परमाम् एति परिलूनम् इवाम्बुजम्
When one cultivates attachment to sense objects, overwhelmed by the force of latent impressions, he falls into deep dejection, like a lotus withered away.
अशास्त्रसंस्कृतमतिर् असज्जनपरायणः । मृताव् अनुभवत्य् अन्तर् दाहम् अग्नाव् इव च्युतः
A mind unrefined by scripture, devoted to the company of the wicked, experiences inner burning at death, as if cast into fire.
यदा घर्घरकण्ठत्वं वैरूप्यं दृष्टिवर्णजम् । गच्छत्य् एष विनाशात्मा तदा भवति दीनधीः
When hoarseness of voice and distortion caused by impaired vision arise, this destructive condition brings about a depressed mind.
परमश्यामलालोको दिवाभ्युदितरात्रिकः । भ्रमद्दिङ्मण्डलाभोगो घनमेचकिताम्बरः
His appearance becomes utterly dark, as if day has turned into night; his form wanders aimlessly, surrounded by dense, cloud-like gloom.
मर्मव्यथाविधुरितः प्रभ्रमद्वृक्षमण्डलः । आकाशीभूतवसुधो वसुधीभूतखान्तरः
Afflicted by pain at his vital points, his vision reels among trees; earth seems to become sky, and sky appears as earth.
परिवृत्तककुप्चक्र उह्यमान इवार्णवे । नीयमान इवाकाशे घननिद्रोन्मुखाशयः
He spins like the turning wheel of a well, tossed as if in the ocean, drawn as if into the sky, his mind inclined toward the sleep of dense clouds.
अन्धकूपम् इवापन्नश् शिलान्तर् इव योजितः । स्वयं जडीभवज्जिह्वो विकर्तित इवाशये
He seems to have fallen into a dark pit, wedged between rocks; his tongue becomes dull, as if self-paralyzed, and his mind feels as if torn apart.
पततीव नभोमार्गाद् घुणावर्त इवार्पितः । रथद्रुत इवारूढो हिमवद्गलनोन्मुखः
He appears to be falling from the path of the sky, caught in a whirlpool, riding a swiftly moving chariot, headed toward the mouth of the Himalayas.
ज्योत्कुर्वन्न् इव संसारं वह्निमध्यं स्पृशन्न् इव । भ्रमितः क्षेपणेणेव वातयन्त्र इव स्थितः
He spins the world as if making it luminous, as if touching the midst of fire; he is whirled about by a force, standing like a wind-driven machine.
भ्रमितो वा भ्रम इव कृष्टो रशनयेव वा । भ्रमन्न् इव जलावर्ते शस्त्रयन्त्र इवार्पितः
He is tossed about like an illusion, pulled as if by a rope, revolving as if in a whirlpool, set as if in a mechanical device of blades.
प्रोह्यमानस् तृणम् इव महत्य् अर्णवमारुते । दूरोढो वारिपूरेण निपतन्न् इव वाडवे
He is driven like a blade of grass by the great wind of the ocean, carried far by a flood of water, falling as if into a submarine fire.
अनन्तगगने श्वभ्रे चक्रावर्ते पतन्न् इव । अद्रिद्यूर्वीविपर्यासदशाम् अनुभवन् स्थितः
He is as if falling in the endless sky, in a deep abyss, in the swirl of a wheel; experiencing the reversal of mountain and earth, he remains.
पतन्न् इवानवरतं प्रोत्पतन्न् इव वाभितः । घूत्काराकर्णनोद्भ्रान्तः पूर्णसर्वेन्द्रियव्रजः
He is as if falling endlessly, or leaping up on all sides; startled by the sound of roaring, with all his senses fully active.
क्रमाच् छ्यामलतां यान्ति तस्य सर्वार्थसंविदः । यथास्तङ्गच्छन्ति रवौ मन्दालोकतया दिशः
Gradually, all his perceptions of meaning grow dark, just as the directions lose their brightness when the sun sets.
पूर्वापरं न जानाति स्मृतिस् तानवम् आगता । यथा पाश्चात्यसन्ध्यान्ते नष्टा दृष्टिर् दिगष्टके
His memory, grown thin, does not know before or after, just as at the end of twilight in the west, sight is lost in the eight directions.
मनःकल्पनसामर्थ्यं जहात्य् अस्य विमोहितः । अविवेकेन तेनासौ महामोहे निमज्जति
Bewildered, he loses the power of mental imagination; through lack of discernment, he sinks into great delusion.
यदेषन्मोहम् आदत्ते नादत्ते पवनस् तदा । न त्व् आदत्ते यथा प्राणान् मोहम् आयात्य् अलं तदा
When this delusion takes hold, the breath does not; but when the breath does not take hold as it does with life, then delusion arises fully.
अन्योऽन्यं पुष्टतां यातैर् मोहात् संवेदनभ्रमैः । जन्तुः पाषाणताम् एति स्थितम् इत्य् आदिसर्गतः
Through mutual reinforcement, by the confusion of perception caused by delusion, a living being becomes like a stone—insensible, as if that is its original state.
व्यथां विमोहं मूर्छां च भ्रमं व्याधिम् अचेतनम् । किम् अर्थम् अयम् आयाति देहो खण्डाङ्गवान् अपि
Why does this body, even though it has all its limbs, experience pain, delusion, fainting, confusion, disease, and insensibility?
एवं संविदितं कर्म सर्गादौ स्पन्दनं विदः । यद्य् अस्मिन् समये दुःखं कालेनैतावतेदृशम्
Thus, the activity known as karma, the vibration at the beginning of creation, is understood; if at this time there is suffering, it is only for this duration.
स्यात् कचत्य् एव विटपगुच्छवत् तत् स्वभावजम् । वेत्ति चित्त्वविजृम्भोत्थं नान्यद् अत्रास्ति कारणम्
It happens just as a cluster of branches sways—this is its own nature; it arises from the expansion of consciousness, and there is no other cause here.
यदा व्यथावशान् नाड्यस् स्वसङ्कोचविकासने । त्यजन्ति मरुतो देहात् परियान्ति निजां स्थितिम्
When, due to pain, the channels abandon their natural contraction and expansion, the vital airs leave the body and return to their own state.
प्रविष्टा न विनिर्यान्ति निर्याताः प्रविशन्ति नो । यदा वाता विनाडित्वात् तदास्पन्दान् मृतिर् भवेत्
When the vital airs have entered but do not exit, or have exited but do not enter, when the airs are no longer moving through the channels, then death occurs due to this cessation.
न विशत्य् एव वा नैव निर्याति पवनो यदा । शरीरान् नाडिवैधुर्ये मृत इत्य् उच्यते तदा
When the air neither enters nor exits, because the channels of the body are impaired, then the person is said to be dead.
आगन्तव्यं मया नाशं कालेनैतावतेति या । पूर्वं संविदिता संविद् याति तच्चोदिता मृतिम्
The awareness that 'I must perish at this time'—this knowledge, previously understood, proceeds toward that death when so impelled.
ईदृशेन मयेहेत्थं भाव्यम् इत्य् आदिसर्गजा । संविद् बीजकलानाशं न कदाचन गच्छति
The awareness, arising from the initial creation, that 'I must act thus in this way,' never proceeds to the destruction of the seed-form of consciousness.