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.
अनुदितम् उदितं जगत्प्रबन्धं भवभयतो व्यसनैर् विलोक्य सम्यक् । अलम् अनुदितवासनो हि जीवो भवति विमुक्त इतीह सत्यम् अस्तु
Having thoroughly observed the rise and fall of the world-process, with its miseries born of the fear of existence, let it be established here as truth: the living being with unarisen tendencies is indeed liberated.
यथैष जन्तुर् म्रियते जायते च यथा पुनः । तन् मे कथय देवेशि पुनर् बोधविवृद्धये
Just as this creature dies and is born again, tell me, O goddess of the gods, for the further growth of my understanding.
नाडीप्रवाहे विधुरे यदा वातविसंस्थताम् । जन्तुः प्राप्नोति हि तदा शाम्यतीवास्य चेतनम्
When, in the flow of the channels, the creature attains a state of disorder due to wind, then its consciousness appears to subside.
शुद्धं हि चेतनं नित्यं नोदेति न च शाम्यति । स्थावरे जङ्गमे व्योम्नि शैले ऽग्नौ पवने स्थितम्
Pure consciousness is eternal; it neither arises nor subsides, abiding in the immobile, the moving, the sky, the mountain, the fire, and the wind.
केवलं वातसंरोधाद् यदा स्पन्दः प्रशाम्यति । मृत इत्य् उच्यते देहस् तदा स जडनामकः
When all movement ceases solely due to the restraint of the vital air, the body is said to be dead, and at that time it is called inert.
तस्मिन् देहे शवीभूते वाते खानिलतां गते । चेतनं वासनायुक्तं खात्म तत्रैव तिष्ठति
When the body has become a corpse and the vital air has merged into space, the consciousness endowed with impressions, the sky-like self, remains right there.
जीव इत्य् उच्यते तस्य नामाणोर् वासनावतः । तत्रैवास्ते स च शवागारे गगनके तथा
That which possesses impressions and is subtle is called the 'jīva'; it remains there itself, whether in the cremation ground or in the sky.
ततो ऽसौ प्रेतशब्देन प्रोच्यते व्यवहारिभिः । चेतनो वासनामिश्रस् सामोदानिलवत् स्थितः
Therefore, in common usage, it is referred to by the term 'preta'; this consciousness, mixed with impressions, abides like fragrant air.
इदं सर्वं परित्यज्य यदास्ते दर्शनान्तरे । स स्वप्न इव सङ्कल्प इव नानाकृतिस् तदा
When it abandons all this and exists in another vision, then it takes on various forms, like a dream or a thought.
तस्मिन्न् एव प्रदेशे ऽन्तः पूर्ववत् स्मृतिभाग् भवेत् । तदैव मृतिमूर्छान्ते पश्यत्य् अन्यच् छरीरकम्
In that very place, within, it becomes endowed with memory as before; at the end of death or fainting, it perceives another body.