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.
संविदो वेदनं नाम स्वभावो ऽव्यतिरेकवान् । तस्मात् स्वभावसंवित्तेर् नान्यन् मरणजन्मनी
The very nature of consciousness is called perception, which is inseparable; therefore, apart from the nature of consciousness, there is nothing else in birth or death.
क्वचिद् आवर्तवद् दौस्स्थ्यं क्वचिन् नद्यां जलं यथा । क्वचित् सौम्यं क्वचिज् जीवधर्मीदं चेतनं तथा
At times, there is turbulence like a whirlpool; at times, calmness like water in a river; at times, gentleness—so too is this living consciousness.
यथा लतायाः पर्वाणि दीर्घाया मध्यमध्यतः । तथा चेतनसत्ताया जन्मानि मरणानि च
Just as the joints of a long creeper are found in its middle, so too are births and deaths in the continuity of conscious existence.
न जायते न म्रियते चेतनं पुरुषः क्वचित् । स्वप्नसम्भ्रमवद् भ्रान्तम् एतत् पश्यति केवलम्
Consciousness, the person, is never born nor does it die; it merely perceives this illusion, like confusion in a dream.
पुरुषश् चेतनामात्रं स कदा क्वेव नश्यति । चेतनव्यतिरिक्तं च वदान्यत् किं पुमान् भवेत्
The person is nothing but pure consciousness—when and where could it ever perish? And what else could a person be apart from consciousness? Tell me.
क्वाद्य यावन् मृतं ब्रूहि चेतनं कस्य किं कथम् । म्रियन्ते देहलक्षाणि चेतनं स्थितम् अक्षयम्
Tell me, from when until now, whose consciousness has died, what, and how? Countless bodies die, but consciousness remains undiminished.
अमरिष्यत् तु चेच् चित्त्वम् एकस्मिन्न् एव तन्मृते । अभविष्यन् सर्व एव मृता एकमृताव् इह
If the mind were to die in just one being, then with the death of that one, all would have died here.
वासनामात्रवैचित्र्यं यज् जीवो ऽनुभवेत् स्वयम् । तस्यैव जन्ममरणे नामनी परिकल्पिते
The diversity of mere tendencies is what the living being experiences for itself; for that alone, birth and death are designated by name.
एवं न किञ्चिन् म्रियते जायते न च कश्चन । वासनावर्तगर्तेषु जीवो लुठति केवलम्
Thus, nothing is born nor does anyone die; the living being merely tumbles in the whirlpool of tendencies.
अत्यन्तासम्भवाद् एव दृश्यस्यासौ च वासना । नास्त्य् एवेति विचारेण दृढज्ञाने विनश्यति
Because the appearance is utterly impossible, that tendency, by the reasoning 'it does not exist,' is destroyed through firm knowledge.