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.
आत्मन्य् अस्थिघटापुष्टम् अन्यस्य व्योम केवलम् । आधारे भूतले सार्कम् आकाशजनवासनम्
In itself, it sees the framework of bones filled out; in another, only space; on the supporting earth, with the sun, and the dwelling of sky-born beings.
भवन्ति यद्विधाः प्रेतास् तेषां भेदम् इमं शृणु । सामान्यपापिनो मध्यपापिनस् स्थूलपापिनः
Now hear the distinctions among pretas, as they are of various kinds: ordinary sinners, moderate sinners, and gross sinners.
सामान्यधर्मा मध्यस्थधर्मा चोत्तमधर्मवान् । एतेषां कस्यचिद् भेदो द्वौ त्रयो ऽप्य् अथ कस्यचित्
There are those of ordinary virtue, those of middling virtue, and those of excellent virtue; for some, there is a distinction among these, while for others, two or even all three may be present.
कश्चिन् महापातकवान् वत्सरान् मृतिमूर्छनाम् । विमूढो ऽनुभवत्य् अन्तः पाषाणहृदयोपमाम्
Someone burdened with great sins, for years after death, experiences a stupor like death, inwardly deluded, with a heart as hard as stone.
ततः कालेन सम्बुद्धो वासनाजठरोदितम् । अनुभूय चिरं कालं वासनादुःखम् अक्षतम्
Then, after some time, awakened by the stirrings of latent impressions, he endures for a long period the unbroken suffering born of those impressions.
भुक्त्वा योनिशतान्य् उच्चैर् दुःखाद् दुःखान्तरं गतः । कदाचिद् इमम् आयाति संसारस्वप्नविभ्रमम्
Having passed through hundreds of wombs, moving from one suffering to another, he sometimes enters this bewildering dream of worldly existence.
अथ वा मृतिमोहान्ते जडां दुःखशताकुलां । क्षणाद् वृक्षादिताम् एव हृत्स्थाम् अनुभवन्ति ते
Or else, at the end of the delusion of death, they instantly experience, as if rooted in the heart, a dullness overwhelmed by hundreds of sufferings, even taking birth as a tree or the like.
स्ववासनानुरूपाणि दुःखानि नरके पुनः । अनुभूयाथ योनीषु जायन्ते भूतले चिरात्
Again, they undergo sufferings in hell corresponding to their own latent tendencies, and after that, are born in various wombs on earth after a long time.
अथ मध्यमपापो यो मृतिमोहाद् अनन्तरम् । स शिलाजठरं जाड्यं कञ्चित् कालं प्रपश्यति
But one of middling sin, immediately after the delusion of death, perceives for a time a dullness like the belly of a stone.
ततः प्रबुध्य कालेन केनचिद् वा तथैव वा । तिर्यगादिक्रमैर् भुक्त्वा योनीस् संसारम् एष्यति
Then, awakening after some time, either by some cause or just so, he partakes of various births among animals and others, and will enter worldly existence.