देशाद् देशान्तरप्राप्तेर् अनुसन्धानहेतुतः । पूर्वं हि कारणं चेतः कर्म चित्तम् अतो विदुः
For attaining one place from another, the cause is inquiry; thus, the mind is the prior cause, and action is known to arise from the mind.
अक्षुब्धसागरप्रख्याद् ब्रह्मणस् स्पन्दधर्मिणी । या चिद् आहुर् अतश् चित्तं जनताजीवतां गतम्
The consciousness, which is said to be the vibrating power of Brahman, resembling an undisturbed ocean, becomes the mind and enters into the life of beings.
मनः कर्म मनो जीवः कायस् तेनैव तन्यते । अतः कर्म च कर्ता च न भिन्नौ तिलतैलवत्
Mind is action, mind is the individual soul, and by that alone the body is extended; therefore, action and the doer are not separate, like oil and sesame seed.
कर्तृकर्मात्मकाव् अर्थाव् अभिन्नौ नित्यम् एव हि । अबोधाद् भेदम् आयातौ कल्प्यमानौ मुधैव हि
The agent and the action are always essentially one and the same; only out of ignorance are they imagined as different, but this is a false conception.
द्वे कर्ममनसी राम मूर्खाणां न तु धीमताम् । समुद्राम्बु तरङ्गाम्बु बालानाम् इव भेदधीः
O Rama, the mind and action appear as two only to the ignorant, not to the wise; just as children see difference between the ocean and its waves, but not the discerning.
पर्यायशब्दाव् एतौ हि विद्धि त्वं चित्तकर्मणी । पर्यायशब्दतां त्यक्त्वा स्थिते दुरवबोधतः
Know that these two—mind and action—are merely different terms for the same thing; when the difference in terms is set aside, their true nature is difficult to discern.
मनः कर्मात्मकं पूर्वं परस्मात् सम्प्रवर्तते । आमोदात्मेव कुसुमं विविधाकृति पादपात्
The mind, whose essence is activity, first arises from the Supreme, just as a flower, whose essence is fragrance, takes on various forms from the tree.
कर्तृकर्माभिधानीह चेतांस्य् अविरतं पदात् । परस्मात् सम्प्रवर्तन्ते तरङ्गा इव सागरात्
Here, the mind—denoted as agent and action—unceasingly arises from the Supreme, just as waves arise from the ocean.
उद्धृतान्य् एव तस्मिंस् तु जीवसञ्ज्ञानि तानि तु । स्फुरित्वा प्रविलीयन्ते तरङ्गा इव सागरे
Indeed, those that are called 'living beings' are only such waves; after arising, they dissolve back into that, just as waves subside into the ocean.
मनसा क्रियते कर्म यद् यत् तत् सफलं भवेत् । मनस्य् एव न कायोत्थं कर्ता कर्म मनस् ततः
Whatever action is performed by the mind, that alone bears fruit; action arises only in the mind, not from the body—thus, the doer and the action are both of the mind.
आलोकलाञ्छिताभोगे मकुरे राजते सुखम् । ब्रह्मतत्त्वपरामृष्टे कर्तृत्वं मनसि स्फुटम्
Just as a mirror, adorned with light, shines beautifully, so too does the sense of agency become clear in the mind touched by the knowledge of Brahman.
गुणो गुणिनि शौक्ल्यादिः पटादौ संस्थितो यथा । तथा मनसि कर्तृत्वं जीवनाम्नि व्यवस्थितम्
Just as qualities like whiteness reside in a cloth, so too does the sense of agency dwell in the mind, under the name 'living being.'
यथा शैत्यादिरहितस् तुषारो नोपलभ्यते । तथा कर्म विना चित्तं न किञ्चिद् उपलभ्यते
Just as frost is not found without coldness and the like, so too, without action, the mind is not found at all.
कृष्णतासङ्क्षये यद्वत् क्षीयते कज्जलं स्वयम् । स्पन्दात्मकर्मविगमे तद्वत् प्रक्षीयते मनः
Just as soot is gradually diminished when its blackness fades away, so too the mind is dissolved when activity, which is its vibration, ceases.
कर्मनाशो मनोनाशो मनोनाशो ह्य् अकर्मता । मुक्तस्यैव भवत्य् एष नामुक्तस्य कदाचन
The destruction of action is the destruction of the mind; the destruction of the mind is indeed the absence of action. This occurs only for the liberated, never for the unliberated.
वह्न्यौष्ण्ययोर् इव सदा श्लिष्टयोश् चित्तकर्मणोः । द्वयोर् एकतराभावे द्वयम् एव विलीयते
Just as heat and fire are always joined, so too are mind and action. When either one is absent, both are dissolved together.
चित्तं सदा स्पन्दविलासम् एतत् स्पन्दैकरूपं ननु कर्म विद्धि । कर्माथ चित्तं किल धर्मधर्मि पदं गते राम परस्परेण
The mind is always the play of vibration; know that action is nothing but vibration in form. Thus, mind and action are like attribute and substance, O Rama, each depending on the other.
मनो हि भावनामात्रं भावना स्पन्दरूपिणी । क्रिया तद्भावितं रूपं फलं सर्वो ऽनुधावति
The mind is merely imagination; imagination is of the nature of vibration. Action is the form shaped by that imagination, and everyone pursues its result.
विस्तरेण मम ब्रह्मञ् जडस्याप्य् अजडाकृतेः । रूपम् आरूढसङ्कल्पं मनसो वक्तुम् अर्हसि
O Brahman, you should describe in detail for me the form of the mind, which arises from the resolve of even the inert, and which is shaped by the non-inert.
अनन्तस्यात्मतत्त्वस्य सर्वशक्तेर् महात्मनः । सङ्कल्पशक्तिसहितं यद् रूपं तन् मनो विदुः
The form of the mind is known to be that which, accompanied by the power of resolve, belongs to the infinite essence of the Self, the all-powerful, the great.
जडाजडदृशोर् मध्ये दोलायितवपुस् स्थितम् । यत् तत्त्वं द्विपरामृष्टं तद् रूपं मनसो विदुः
The form of the mind is known as that essence which stands poised between the inert and the conscious, touched by both.
नाहं चिदवभासात्मा कृपणो ऽस्मीति निश्चयः । यस् सदाक्रान्तकलनस् तद् रूपं मनसो विदुः
The certainty, 'I am not the self-luminous consciousness, I am a miserable being,'—that which is always pervaded by conceptualization, they know that as the nature of the mind.
भावस् सदसतोर् मध्ये नॄणां स्फुरति निश्चलः । कलनोन्मुखतां यातस् तद् रूपं मनसो विदुः
The state that, unmoving, shines forth among beings between existence and non-existence, and has become inclined toward conceptualization, they know that as the nature of the mind.
कलनात्मिकया कर्मशक्त्या विरहितं मनः । न सम्भवति लोके ऽस्मिन् गुणहीनो गुणी यथा
The mind, devoid of the power of action that consists in conceptualization, does not arise in this world—just as one without qualities cannot be called qualified.
यथानलौष्ण्ययोस् सत्ता न सम्भवति भिन्नयोः । तथैव कर्ममनसोस् तथात्ममनसोर् अपि
Just as the existence of heat and fire cannot occur separately, so too is it with action and mind, and likewise with the self and mind.
स्वेनैव चित्तरूपेण कर्मणा फलधर्मणा । सङ्कल्पैकशरीरेण नानाविस्तरशालिना
By its own nature as mind, through action and the law of results, with the body made of intention, and displaying manifold variety—
या येन वासना यत्र लतेवारोपिता यथा । सा तेन फलभूस् तत्र तद् एव प्राप्यते तथा
Whatever tendency is implanted where, just as a creeper is planted somewhere, that becomes the field of its fruit, and accordingly, that very thing is attained there.
कर्मबीजं मनस् स्पन्दः कथ्यते ऽथानुभूयते । क्रियास् तु विविधास् तस्य शाखाश् चित्रफलास् तरोः
The vibration of the mind is called the seed of action, and then it is experienced; the various activities are its branches, like the diverse fruits of a tree.
मनो यद् अनुसन्धत्ते तत् कर्मेन्द्रियवृत्तयः । सर्वास् सम्पादयन्त्य् एतास् तस्मात् कर्म मनस् स्मृतम्
Whatever the mind pursues, those functions of the organs of action all accomplish; therefore, action is considered to be mind.
मनो बुद्धिर् अहङ्कारश् चेतः कर्माथ कल्पना । संसृतिर् वासनाविद्या प्रयत्नस् स्मृतिर् एव च
Mind, intellect, ego, thought, action, imagination, transmigration, latent impressions, ignorance, effort, and memory—