ते हि धीरास् सुराजानो दशास्व् आसु जयन्ति ते । तृणायते तु दिग्दन्तिघटाभटपराजयः
Indeed, those wise ones, noble rulers among men, prevail in these states; for them, defeat by armies of war-elephants is as insignificant as grass.
एतासु भूमिषु जयन्ति हि ये महान्तो वन्द्यास् त एव हि जितेन्द्रियशात्रवास् ते । सम्राड् विराड् अपि च यत्र तृणायते तत् स्फारं पदं झगिति ते समवाप्नुवन्ति
Those great ones who conquer in these states alone are worthy of reverence; they have subdued the enemy of the senses. Even the status of emperor or universal monarch appears trivial to them, and they swiftly attain that supreme state.
ऊर्मिकासंविदा हेम यथा विस्मृत्य हेमताम् । विरौति नाहं हेमेति वृथात्माहन्तया तथा
Just as a golden ornament, forgetting its nature as gold, does not cry out 'I am gold' out of vain self-assertion, so it is with the sense of self.
ऊर्मिकासंविदुदयः कथं हेम्नो महामुने । अहम्भावात्मक इति यथावद् ब्रूहि मे प्रभो
How does the awareness of being an ornament arise from gold, O great sage? Tell me precisely, master, how this sense of 'I' comes to be.
सत एवागमापायौ प्रष्टव्यौ नासतस् सदा । अहन्त्वम् ऊर्मिकात्वं च सती तु न कदाचन
Only what truly exists can have coming and going; never does the unreal have existence. The sense of 'I' and the state of being an ornament are never truly real.
हेम देह्य् ऊर्मिकात्वं त्वं गृहाणेत्य् उदिते यदि । तद् दीयते सोर्मिकेण तत् तद् अस्ति न संशयः
If, when told 'O gold, become an ornament,' it is made into one, then it certainly exists as an ornament—of this there is no doubt.
एवं चेत् तत् प्रभो ऽत्र स्याद् ऊर्मिकात्वं तु कीदृशम् । अनयैवार्थविच्छित्त्या ज्ञास्यामि ब्रह्मणो वपुः
If this is so, master, then what is the nature of becoming an ornament? By discerning this very matter, I shall come to know the true form of Brahman.
रूपं राघव नीरूपम् असतश् चेन् निरूप्यते । तद् वन्ध्यातनयाकारगुणान् मे त्वम् उदाहर
O Raghava, if form is ascribed to the formless unreal, then you may as well describe to me the qualities and actions of the son of a barren woman.
ऊर्मिकात्वं मुधा भ्रान्तिर् मायेवासत्स्वरूपिणी । रूपं तद् एतद् एवास्याः प्रेक्षिता यन् न दृश्यते
The notion of a wave is a mistaken illusion, just as the unreal appears as if it has a form; this is the very nature of illusion—what is seen is not truly perceived.
मृगतृष्णाम्भसि द्वीन्दाव् अहन्तारुचकादिषु । एतावद् एव रूपं यत् प्रेक्ष्यमाणं न लक्ष्यते
In the water of a mirage, in two moons, in the glow of ego and similar things, the form is only so much as what, when observed, cannot be grasped.
यश् शुक्तौ रजताकारं प्रेक्षते रजतस्य सः । न सम्प्राप्नोत्य् अणुम् अपि कणं क्षीणम् अपि क्वचित्
He who sees the appearance of silver in a shell never obtains even the smallest particle of silver from it, anywhere, ever.
अपर्यालोचनेनैव सद् इवासद् विराजते । यथा शुक्तौ रजतता जलं मरुमरीचिषु
By failing to discern properly, the unreal appears as real, just as silver appears in a shell, or water in a desert mirage.
यन् नास्ति तस्य नास्तित्वं प्रेक्ष्यमाणं प्रकाशते । अप्रेक्ष्यमाणं स्फुरति मृगतृष्णास्व् इवाम्बुधीः
The nonexistence of what does not exist becomes evident when observed; when not observed, it seems to flash forth, like water in a mirage.
असद् एव च तत् कार्यकरं भवति च स्थिरम् । बालानां मरणायैव वेतालभ्रान्तिसङ्गमः
That which is unreal can indeed act as a cause and seem stable; but, like the delusion of a ghoul, it leads only to the destruction of the ignorant.
हेमतां वर्जयित्वैकां वर्तते हेम्नि नेतरत् । ऊर्मिकाकटकादित्वं तैलादि सिकतास्व् इव
Except for the quality of goldness, nothing else exists in gold; just as in oil and the like, there is only the nature of a wave or a bubble in sand.
नेहास्ति सत्यं नो मिथ्या यद् यथा प्रतिभासते । तत् तथार्थक्रियाकारि बालयक्षविकारवत्
Here, there is neither truth nor falsehood; whatever appears, acts accordingly, just as the changes seen in a child's game of dice.
सद् वा भवत्व् असद् वापि सुदृढं हृदये तु यत् । तत् तद् अर्थक्रियाकारि विषस्येवामृतक्रिया
Whether it is real or unreal, whatever is firmly held in the heart produces its effects, like poison or nectar.
परमैव हि साविद्या मायैषा संसृतिर् ह्य् असौ । असतो निष्प्रतिष्ठस्य यदाहन्त्वस्य भावनम्
This supreme ignorance is indeed māyā; it is the cycle of existence, arising from the contemplation of 'I-ness' in what is baseless and unreal.
हेम्न्य् अस्ति नोर्मिकादित्वम् अहन्ताद्य् अस्ति नात्मनि । अहन्त्वाभावतस् त्व् एवं स्वच्छे शान्ते समे परे
Gold does not possess the qualities of a worm, nor does the Self have attributes like 'I-ness'; due to the absence of 'I-ness', the supreme, clear, peaceful, and equal essence remains.
न सनातनता काचिन् न च काचिद् विरिञ्चता । न च ब्रह्माण्डता काचिन् न च काचित् सुरादिता
There is no eternal nature, nor any creator-nature; there is no cosmic egg-nature, nor any nature of gods or others.
न लोकान्तरता काचिन् न च सर्गादिता क्वचित् । न मेरुता नाम्बरता न मनस्ता न देहता
There is no nature of other worlds, nor any nature of creation anywhere; there is no nature of Meru, nor of sky, nor of mind, nor of body.
न महाभूतता काचिन् न च कारणता क्वचित् । न चर्तुकालकलना न भावाभाववस्तुता
There is no nature of the great elements, nor any nature of cause anywhere; there is no calculation of seasons, nor any nature of existence or nonexistence.
त्वत्ताहन्तात्मता तत्ता सत्तासत्ता न काश्चन । न क्वचिद् भेदकलना न भावाभावरञ्जना
There is no nature of 'you', 'I', 'self', 'that', existence or nonexistence; nowhere is there any calculation of difference, nor any coloring by existence or nonexistence.
सर्वं शान्तं निरालम्भं ज्ञम् अच्छं शाश्वतं शिवम् । अनामयम् अनाभासम् अनामकम् अकारणम्
All is peaceful, without support, pure consciousness, clear, eternal, auspicious, free from affliction, without appearance, without name, and without cause.
न सन् नासन् न मध्यान्तं न सर्वं सर्वम् एव च । मनोवचोभिर् अग्राह्यं शून्याशून्यं सुशाश्वतम्
It is not existence, nor non-existence, nor a middle or an end; it is not all, yet it is entirely all; it cannot be grasped by mind or speech, it is neither void nor non-void, and is supremely eternal.
अवबुद्धं महाब्रह्मन् सर्वम् एतन् मयाधुना । तथापि भूयः कथय सर्गः किम् अवलोक्यते
O great Brahman, I have now realized all this; yet, tell me again—what is seen as creation?
परे शान्तं परं नाम स्थितम् इत्थम् इदन्तया । नेह सर्गो न सर्गाख्या काचनास्ति कदाचन
The supreme peace, the highest, remains thus as 'this' and 'that'; here, there is never any creation nor even the notion of creation at any time.
महार्णवाम्भसीवाम्बु संस्थितं परमे पदे । जलं द्रवत्वात् स्पन्दीव निस्स्पन्दं परमं पदम्
Just as water remains in the ocean, so in the supreme state; water, by its liquidity, seems to move, but the supreme state is unmoving.
भास्वात्मनीव कचति न कचच् चैव तत् पदम् । भासते कचनं भासां परं त्व् अकचनं विदुः
As light shines in itself, so that state neither shines nor does not shine; what shines is called 'shining,' but the supreme is known as non-shining.
अध ऊर्ध्वं वर्जयित्वा यथाब्धेर् उदरे पयः । स्फुरत्य् एवं परे चित्त्वाद् इदं नानेव तत्परम्
Leaving aside above and below, just as water stirs within the ocean, so, from supreme consciousness, this appears as manifold, yet it is that supreme.