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.
नेह प्रजायते किञ्चिन् नेह किञ्चन नश्यति । जगद् गन्धर्वनगररूपेण ब्रह्मबृंहितम्
Here, nothing is born and nothing perishes; the world, like a city of the Gandharvas, is expanded in Brahman.
यथैव ब्रह्मजादीनां जीवानां सदसन्मयी । सत्ता तथैव सर्वेषाम् आसरीसृपम् आसुरम्
Just as the existence of Brahma and other living beings is composed of reality and unreality, so too is the existence of all, whether serpentine or demonic.
संविद्विभ्रम एवायम् एवम् अभ्युत्थितो ऽप्य् असत् । आब्रह्म कीटसंवित्तेस् सम्यक्संवेदनक्षयः
This is only the confusion of consciousness; even when it arises thus, it is unreal; from Brahma down to the worm, when true knowledge ceases, so does awareness.
यथा सम्पद्यते ब्रह्मा कीटस् सम्पद्यते तथा । कीटस् तु रूढभूतौघवलनात् तुच्छकर्मतः
Just as Brahma comes into being, so too does the worm; but the worm, due to the dominance of gross elements and insignificance of actions, is limited.
यद् एव जीवनं जीवे चेत्योन्मुखमयात्मकम् । तद् एव पौरुषं तस्मिन् सारं कर्म तद् एव च
Whatever life is in a living being, consisting of the inclination towards objects, that alone is manliness in him, that alone is the essence, and that alone is action.
ब्रह्मणस् सर्गताहन्ते कीटस्याप्य् असदुत्थिते । चित्तमात्रात्मके भ्रान्ते प्रेक्षामात्रभवत्क्षये
From the creation of Brahma down to the destruction of an insect, when the illusion that is mind-only ceases, only pure perception remains.
मातृमानप्रमेयार्थो न चिन्मात्रेतरो यदा । तदा द्वैतैक्यवादार्थश् शशशृङ्गाब्जिनीसमः
When the objects of knower, means of knowledge, and the known do not exist apart from pure consciousness, then the doctrines of duality and unity are as unreal as a hare’s horn or a lotus in the sky.
भावदार्ढ्यात्मकं मिथ्या ब्रह्मणो ऽण्डं विभाव्यते । आत्मैव कोशकारेण लालारूपात्मकं यथा
The cosmic egg of Brahma, which is of the nature of firm existence, is imagined falsely; just as the self, by the action of a silkworm, appears in the form of its own saliva.
सत्तया ब्रह्मणा यद् यद् यथा दृष्टं विभाति तत् । तत् तथा दृश्यते तज्ज्ञैस् स्वभावस्यैष निश्चयः
Whatever is seen by Brahma as real, appears in that very way; this is the certain understanding of those who know reality, regarding the nature of things.
यथा यद् उदितं वस्तु तन् न तत्तां विना भवेत् । निमेषम् अपि कल्पो वा स्वभावस्यैष निश्चयः
Whatever thing arises, it cannot exist even for a moment or an age without its own nature; this is the certain understanding of the nature of things.
अलीकम् इदम् उत्पन्नम् अलीकं च विवर्धते । अलीकम् एव स्वदते तथालीकं विलीयते
This which has arisen is unreal, and the unreal alone increases; it experiences only the unreal, and thus the unreal dissolves.
चिन्मात्रस्यान्तरे सर्गश् चिन्मात्रं सकलान्तरे । तत्त्वात् समस्तसत्तानां चिन्मात्रं सर्वम् एव वा
Within pure consciousness is creation; pure consciousness is within all; in truth, all beings are pure consciousness, or rather, everything is pure consciousness.
चिन्मात्रम् एव बहिर् अन्तर् उपर्य् अधस्तान् मानप्रमेयम् इति मातृपदं च धत्ते । नित्योपशान्तम् इति तेन समस्तसत्ता नित्यं स्थितं सुसमम् एकम् अपेततुर्यम्
Pure consciousness alone is inside, outside, above, below, as the knower, the means, and the known; thus it assumes the position of the knower. Ever peaceful, by this, all existence abides always as one, perfectly balanced, beyond the fourth state.
अत्रैवोदाहरन्तीमम् इतिहासं पुरातनम् । राक्षस्योक्तं महाप्रश्नजालम् आवलिताखिलम्
Here they recount this ancient tale, the great web of questions spoken by a demoness, all-encompassing.
अस्ति कज्जलपङ्काद्रेर् इवोग्रा सालभञ्जिका । हिमाद्रेर् उत्तरे पार्श्वे कर्कटी नाम राक्षसी
There is, like the fierce Sālabhañjikā of the sooty mountain, a demoness named Karkaṭī on the northern side of the Himalayas.
विषूचिकाभिधाना या कन्या सा न्यायबाधिका । विन्ध्याटवीव देहेन युक्त्या कार्श्यम् उपागता
She, called Viṣūcikā, is a maiden afflicted by justice, emaciated in body like the Vindhya forest by reasoning.
महाबलाग्निनयना रोदोरन्ध्रावपूरिणी । नीलाम्बराम्बरा कृष्णा देहबद्धेव यामिनी
With eyes blazing like great fires, her nostrils filled with smoke, clad in dark blue garments, black as night bound in a body.
नीहारवसनाच्छन्ना मेदुराभ्रशिरःपटा । लम्बाभ्रबिम्बोरसिजा नित्योर्ध्वतिमिरोर्ध्वजा
Shrouded in mist-like robes, with a headcloth like a dense cloud, her breasts like hanging rain-clouds, ever bearing the banner of darkness.
स्थिरविद्युल्लतानेत्रा तमालतरुतारका । वैडूर्यशूर्पाग्रनखी भस्मनीहारहासिनी
Her eyes steady as lightning streaks, stars among tamāla trees; her nails tipped like the edge of a cat's-eye gem, laughing with a garland of ashes.
निर्मांसनरदेहौघपुष्पस्रग्दामभूषिता । सर्वाङ्गोग्रान्त्रसम्प्रोतशवमालाविराजिता
Adorned with garlands of flowers made from heaps of fleshless human bodies, she shines with a necklace of corpses strung with fierce entrails on every limb.