ब्रह्म सर्वं जगद् वस्तु पिण्ड एकम् अखण्डितम् । फलपत्त्रलतागुल्मपीठं बीजम् इव स्थितम्
Brahman is all; the world is one undivided mass, existing like a seed that contains fruit, leaves, creepers, bushes, and seats within itself.
अहो चित्रं जगद् इदम् असत् सद् इव भासते । अहो बृहद् अहो स्वच्छम् अहो स्फुटम् अहो तनु
Ah, how wondrous is this world, which appears unreal yet seems real; how vast, how clear, how distinct, how subtle!
ब्रह्मणि प्रतिभासात्मा तन्मात्रगणगोलकः । अवश्यायकणाभो ऽसौ यथा स्फुरति तच् छ्रुतम्
In Brahman, the essence of appearance is a sphere of the groups of subtle elements, and it shines forth, resembling a cluster of inevitable particles, as it is heard.
यथासौ याति वैमुख्यं यथा भवति चात्मभूः । यथा स्वभावसिद्धिर् वा तथा कथय मे प्रभो
O Lord, tell me how that one turns away, how the self is established, and how natural attainment arises.
अत्यन्तासम्भवद् रूपम् अनन्यत् स्वस्वभावतः । अत्यन्ताननुभूतं सत् स्वनुभूतम् इवाग्रतः
Its form is utterly impossible, not other than its own nature; though never at all experienced, it appears before one as if directly perceived.
हुल्लस् सभुल्लो घुल्लाङ्घ इति बालहृदि स्फुटम् । यथोदेति तथोदेति परे ब्रह्मणि जीवता
Just as in a child's heart, words like 'hullas', 'sabhullo', 'ghullāṅgha' arise clearly, so too does the living being arise in the supreme Brahman.
मानमेयात्मिकाशुद्धासत्यैव सत्यवत् स्थिता । भिन्नेव च न भिन्नास्माद् ब्रह्मणो बृंहणात्मिका
It abides as the unreal, pure, and measurable, yet appears as if real; though seemingly separate, it is not apart from Brahman, whose nature is expansion.
यथा ब्रह्म भवत्य् आशु जीवः कलनजीवितः । तथा जीवो भवत्य् आशु मनो मननवेदनम्
Just as the living being, whose life is imagination, quickly becomes Brahman, so too does the living being swiftly become mind, whose nature is thinking and knowing.
चित्तं तन्मात्रमननं पश्यत्य् आशु स्वरूपवत् । एष सङ्घो ऽनिललवप्रख्यस् स्फुरति खान्तरे
The mind, which is merely the act of thinking about subtle elements, quickly perceives itself as its own nature; this aggregate, resembling a puff of wind, flashes forth within space.
औच्छून्यम् एषो ऽनुभवत्य् अवश्यायकणोपमम् । संवेदनात्मकं कालकलितैकान्तम् आत्मनि
This experiences emptiness, like a particle of necessity; its essence is awareness, and, marked by time, it is established in the self.
अहं किम् इति शब्दार्थवेदनाम् सो ऽङ्गसंविदम् । संविदन् वस्तुशब्दार्थं जीवः पश्यति सार्थकम्
The living being perceives the meaning of words such as 'Who am I?', and the awareness of limbs; awareness perceives the true meaning of objects and words.
तादृक्संवेदनस् सो ऽथ रसशब्दार्थवेदनम् । भाविजिह्वार्थनाम्नैकदेशे ऽनुभवति क्षणात्
Then, with such awareness, he perceives taste, sound, and meaning, experiencing them for a moment in the region named after the tongue of feeling.
तादृक्संवेदनाज् जीवश् शब्दार्थोन्मुखतां गतः । भविष्यन्नेत्रनाम्नैकदेशे भवति भासनम्
From such awareness, the living being becomes inclined toward the meaning of sound, and illumination arises in the region named after the future eye.
तादृक्संवेदनस् सो ऽथ घ्राणं तद्वृत्तिवेदनात् । स्थितो यस्मिन् भविष्यन्ती तावद् दृष्ट्यादितत्स्थितिः
Then, with such awareness, he perceives the function of the nose; wherever he is established, the state of sight and so forth remains there.
एवम्प्रायस् स जीवात्मा काकतालीयवच् छनैः । विशिष्टसन्निवेशत्वं भावितं पश्यति स्वतः
In this way, the embodied soul, like the chance meeting of crow and palm, gradually perceives the distinctive arrangement arising within himself.
स तस्य सन्निवेशस्य त्व् असतो ऽपि सतस् सतः । शब्दभावैकदेशत्वं श्रवणार्थेन विन्दति
He recognizes, through hearing, the partial presence of sound in the arrangement, whether it is real or unreal, existent or non-existent.
स्पर्शभावैकदेशत्वं त्वक्छब्दार्थेन विन्दति । रसभावैकदेशत्वं जिह्वार्थाकृति पश्यति
He recognizes the partial presence of touch through the meaning of skin and sound, and perceives the partial presence of taste through the form of the tongue's object.
रूपभावैकदेशत्वं नेत्रार्थाकृति पश्यति । गन्धभावैकदेशत्वं नासिकात्वेन पश्यति
He perceives the partial presence of form through the shape of the eye's object, and the partial presence of smell through the nature of the nose.
एवम्भावमयैतत्ता प्रकटीकरणक्षमम् । भविष्यद् इन्द्रियाख्यं सा रन्ध्रं पश्यति देहके
Thus, this state composed of such qualities is capable of manifestation; he perceives that opening in the body called the future sense organ.
इत्य् एवम् आदिजीवस्य राघवाद्यतनस्य च । उदेति प्रतिभासात्मा देह एवातिवाहिकः
In this way, O Raghava, for the primal living being and for the present one as well, the apparent self, which is the transmigrating principle, arises only in the body.
अनाख्यैव परा सत्ता स्वातिवाहिकताम् इव । सा गच्छत्य् अप्य् अगच्छन्ती तादृक्शक्त्यात्मभावनात्
The supreme existence, which is indescribable, seems to take on the role of transmigration, yet, though it appears to go, it does not truly go—such is the power of self-imagination.
मातृमेयप्रमाणादि यदा ब्रह्मैव वेदनात् । तदातिवाहिकोक्तीनां कः प्रसङ्गस् तद् एव तत्
When, through direct knowledge, one realizes that the measure of knower, known, and means of knowledge is only Brahman, then what relevance is there for statements about transmigration? That alone is the reality.
अन्यत्ववेदनाद् अन्यः परस्माद् आतिवाहिकः । ब्रह्मत्ववेदनाद् ब्रह्म नासंवित्तिर् हि सान्यथा
Transmigration is other than Brahman because of perceiving otherness; but when Brahman alone is known, there is only Brahman—there is no other awareness otherwise.
असम्भवाद् असंवित्तेर् ब्रह्मात्मकतयाथवा । को मोक्षः को विचारस् स्याद् अलं भेदविकल्पनैः
If there is no possibility of any awareness apart from Brahman, then what liberation or inquiry can there be? Enough of these distinctions and divisions.
सिद्धान्तकाल एवैष प्रश्नस् ते राम राजते । अकालपुष्पमाला हि शोभनापि न शोभते
O Rama, your question shines forth only at the time of conclusion; for a garland of flowers out of season, though beautiful, does not truly shine.
सार्थैवानर्थिकाकालमाला विवलिता यथा । तथैवाकालगीर् जन्तोस् सर्वं काले हि शोभते
Just as a garland made at the wrong time, even if adorned, does not suit the occasion, so too, words spoken out of season by a living being—everything is fitting only in its proper time.
प्रतिबन्धाभ्यनुज्ञानां कालो दातेति दृश्यते । ननु सर्वपदार्थानां कालेन फलयोगिता
It is seen that time grants both obstacles and permissions; indeed, for all things, their fruition is determined by time.
एवम् एष स जीवात्मा सुप्तात्मा समुपस्थितः । पितामहत्वम् उच्छूनः पश्यन्न् आत्मनि कालतः
In this way, that individual self, present as the sleeper, perceives in itself, through the passage of time, the state of being a progenitor, now ended.
ओमुच्चारणसंवित्तिपूर्वं वेदान् प्रपश्यति । यः करोति मनोराज्यं भवत्य् आशु स तन्मतिः
He who, preceded by the awareness of the utterance of Om, beholds the Vedas, and who rules in the kingdom of his mind, quickly becomes established in that understanding.
इदम् एवम् असत् सद्वद् विदन् व्योम्नि सुतात्मनि । पर्वतौघाकृति व्योमजगद् व्योम्नि विजृम्भते
Knowing this unreal as if it were real, in the space of the pure self, the world, shaped like a mass of mountains, unfolds in space.