नीहार इव विस्तारि गृहीतं सन् न किञ्चन । जडं शून्यास्पदं शून्यं केषाञ्चित् परमाणुवत्
Like mist spreading out, though grasped, it is nothing at all; inert, the abode of emptiness, void for some, as minute as an atom.
किञ्चिद् भूतमयो ऽस्तीति स्थितं शून्यम् अभूतकम् । गृह्यमाणम् असद्रूपं निशातम इवोत्थितम्
Something composed of elements is said to exist, yet the void is not made of elements; when apprehended, it is of unreal nature, like a sharp blade suddenly appearing.
महाकल्पक्षये दृश्यम् आस्ते बीज इवाङ्कुरम् । परे भूय उदेत्य् एतत् तत एवेति किं वद
At the end of a great age, what is seen remains like a sprout in a seed; later, it arises again from that very same source—tell me, what is this?
एवम्बोधाः किम् अज्ञास् स्युर् उत तज्ज्ञा इति स्फुटम् । यथावद् भगवन् ब्रूहि सर्वसंशयशान्तये
Are those with such understanding ignorant, or do they possess true knowledge? O revered one, speak clearly and properly, to dispel all doubts.
इदं बीजे ऽङ्कुर इव दृश्यम् आस्ते महाक्षये । ब्रूते यः परम् अज्ञत्वम् एतत् तस्यातिशैशवात्
This appears at the end of a great cycle, like a sprout in a seed; whoever asserts that supreme ignorance is here, does so from extreme childishness.
स्पर्शे किं तद् असम्बद्धं कथम् एतद् अवास्तवम् । विपरीतो बोध एष वक्तुश् श्रोतुश् च मौर्ख्यकृत्
What is that which is untouched in contact, and how can this be unreal? Such contrary understanding is the cause of folly for both speaker and listener.
बीजकाले ऽङ्कुर इव जगद् आस्त इतीह या । बुद्धिस् सासत्प्रलापार्था मूढा शृणु कथं किल
The notion that the world exists like a sprout in a seed at the time of the seed—such an idea is the talk of delusion; listen, how this is so.
बीजं भवेत् स्वयं दृश्यं चित्तादीन्द्रियगोचरः । वटधानादि धान्यादि युक्तम् अत्राङ्कुरोद्भवः
A seed is itself something visible, accessible to mind and senses; when it is joined with things like earth and grain, then indeed a sprout arises.
मनष्षष्ठेन्द्रियातीतं यः खाद् अतितराम् अपि । बीजं तद् भवितुं शक्तं स्वयम्भूर् जगतः कथम्
But that which is beyond mind and the six senses, and even beyond that—how could such a seed, self-existent, become the origin of the world?
आकाशाद् अपि सूक्ष्मस्य परस्य परमात्मनः । सर्वाक्षानुपलभ्यस्य कीदृशी बीजता कथम्
How could there be seed-nature in the Supreme Self, which is subtler than space, beyond all, and not perceived by any sense?
सत् सूक्ष्मम् असदाभासम् असद् एव ह्य् अतद्दृशाम् । कीदृशी बीजता तत्र बीजाभावे कुतो ऽङ्कुरः
That which is subtle existence, appearing as nonexistence, is truly nonexistence for those who do not see it; how can there be seed-nature there, and without a seed, how could a sprout arise?
गगनाङ्गाद् अपि स्वच्छे शून्ये तत्र परे पदे । कथं सन्ति जगन्मेरुसमुद्रगगनादयः
In that supreme state, pure and empty even beyond the elements of space, how could things like the world, Mount Meru, oceans, and sky exist?
नकिञ्चिद् यत् कथं किञ्चित् तत्रास्ते वस्त्व् अवस्तुनि । अस्ति चेत् तत् कथं तत्र विद्यमानं न दृश्यते
How could anything at all exist in that which is nothing? If something does exist there, why is it not seen as present?
नकिञ्चिदात्मनः किञ्चित् कथम् एति कुतो ऽथ वा । शून्यरूपाद् घटाकाशाज् जातो ऽद्रिः क्व कुतः कदा
How could anything arise from that which is nothing, or from where, or how? How could a mountain be born from the empty space within a pot—where, from what, and when?
प्रतिपक्षे कथं किञ्चिद् आस्ते छायातपे यथा । कथम् आस्ते तमो भानौ कथम् आस्ते हिमे ऽनलः
On the contrary, how could anything exist, as light and shadow do not coexist? How could darkness exist in the sun, or fire in ice?
मेरुर् आस्ते कथम् अणौ कुतः किञ्चिद् अनाकृतौ । तदतद्रूपयोर् ऐक्यं क्व च्छायातपयोर् इव
How can Mount Meru exist within an atom, or anything exist in the unformed? The union of what is and what is not is as impossible as the union of shadow and sunlight.
साकारे वटधानादाव् अङ्कुरो ऽस्तीति युक्तिमत् । अनाकारे महाकारं जगद् अस्तीत्य् अयुक्तिमत्
It is reasonable to say that a sprout exists in a seed with form, like that of a banyan tree; but it is not reasonable to say that this vast world exists in something formless.
देशान्तरे यच् च नरान्तरे च बुद्ध्यादिसर्वेन्द्रियशक्त्यदृश्यम् । नास्त्य् एव तत्तद्विधबुद्धिबोधे नकिञ्चिद् इत्य् एव तद् उच्यते च
Whatever, in another place or in another person, is not perceived by the mind or any sense power—such things do not exist at all for the awareness of that particular mind; this is what is said.
कार्यस्य तत् कारणतां प्रयातं वक्तीति यस् तस्य विमूढबोधः । कैर् नाम तत्कार्यम् उदेति तस्मात् स्वैः कारणौघैस् सहकारिरूपैः
Whoever says that an effect goes back to become its cause has a confused understanding; by what means does that effect arise, along with its own multitude of cooperating causes?
दुर्बुद्धिभिः कारणकार्यभावं सङ्कल्पितं दूरतरे व्युदस्य । यद् एव तत् सत्यम् अनादिमध्यं जगत् तद् एव स्थितम् इत्य् अवेहि
Set far aside the imagined distinction of cause and effect, conceived by those of dull intellect; know that whatever truly exists, this beginningless and endless world, alone stands as reality.
जगदाद्यङ्कुरस् तत्र यद्य् अस्ति तद् असौ तदा । कैर् इवोदेति कथय कारणैस् सहकारिभिः
If the original sprout of the world exists there, then it exists at that time; tell me, by what cooperating causes does it arise?
सहकारिकारणानाम् अभावे वाङ्कुरोद्गतिः । वन्ध्याकन्या च दृष्टेह न कदाचन केनचित्
When there is an absence of cooperating causes, the emergence of a sprout is never seen—just as no one has ever seen the daughter of a barren woman.
सहकारिकारणानाम् अभावे यच् च वोदितम् । मूलकारणम् एवात्मा तत् स्वभावे स्थितं तथा
And as for what is said to arise in the absence of cooperating causes—that is only the root cause itself, the Self, remaining in its own nature.
सर्गादौ सर्गरूपेण ब्रह्मैवात्मनि तिष्ठति । यथास्थितम् अनाकारं क्व जन्यजनकक्रमः
At the beginning of creation, Brahman alone abides in itself as the form of creation; being formless as it is, where is the sequence of cause and effect?
अथ पृथ्व्यादयो ऽन्ये वा कुतो ऽप्य् आगत्य कुर्वते । सहकारिकारणत्वं तत् पूर्वैवात्र दूषणा
If earth and the other elements, or anything else, come from somewhere and act as auxiliary causes, that prior existence is itself a flaw here.
तस्मात् परे जगच् छान्तम् आस्ते तत् सहकारणैः । विना प्रसरतीत्य् उक्तिर् बालस्य न विपश्चितः
Therefore, to say that the world arises peacefully from the Supreme, with or without auxiliary causes, is the statement of a child, not of the wise.
तस्माद् राम जगन् नासीन् न चास्ति न भविष्यति । चेतनाकाशम् एवाच्छं कचतीत्थम् इवात्मनि
Therefore, O Rama, the world never was, is not, nor will be; only the pure space of consciousness shines, like a reflection in oneself.
अत्यन्ताभाव एवास्य जगतो विद्यते यदा । तदा ब्रह्मेदम् अखिलम् इति सद् राम नान्यथा
When there is the total absence of this world, then, O Rama, all this is truly Brahman and nothing else.
पूर्वप्रध्वंसनान्योऽन्याभावैर् यद् उपशाम्यति । अशान्तम् एव तच् चित्ते न शाम्यत्य् एव तद् यतः
That which ceases through the prior destruction or absence of something else does not truly cease in the mind, for it remains unpacified there.
अत्यन्ताभावम् एवातो जगद्दृश्यस्य सर्वथा । वर्जयित्वेतरा युक्तिर् नास्त्य् एवानर्थसङ्क्षये
Therefore, only the total absence of the perceived world is reasonable in every way; apart from this, there is no other reasoning for the cessation of misfortune.