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.
चिदाकाशस्य बोधो ऽयं जगदादीति यत् स्थितम् । अयं सो ऽहम् इदं रूपालोकचित्तकलाद्य् अपि
This awareness of the space of consciousness, which stands as the origin of the world, is this very 'I', and also these forms, lights, thoughts, and so on.
इदम् अर्कादि पृथ्व्यादि तथेदं वत्सरादि च । अयं कल्पः क्षणश् चायम् इमे मरणजन्मनी
This is the sun and so forth, this is the earth and so on; likewise, this is the year and so on; this is an epoch, and this is a moment; these are death and birth.
अयं कल्पान्तसंरम्भो महाकल्पान्त एष सः । अयं स सर्गप्रारम्भो भावाभावक्रमस् त्व् असौ
This is the tumult at the end of an epoch; this is the great end of an age; this is the beginning of creation, and that is the sequence of being and non-being.
लक्षाणीमानि कल्पानाम् इमा ब्रह्माण्डकोटयः । इमे ब्रह्मेन्द्रनिचया इमा विष्ण्वादिशक्तयः
These are hundreds of thousands of epochs; these are the myriad universes; these are the hosts of Brahmas and Indras; these are the powers of Vishnu and others.
एते चेमे परिणता इमे भूय उपागताः । इमानि धिष्ण्यजालानि देशकालकला इमाः
These and these have matured; these have arisen again; these are the networks of abodes; these are the divisions of space, time, and art.
महाचित्परमाकाशम् अनावृत्तम् अनन्तकम् । यथा पूर्वं स्थितं शान्तम् इत्य् एवं कचति स्वयम्
The great consciousness, the supreme space, unbounded and infinite, remains as before, peaceful—thus it abides by its own nature.
परमाणुसहस्रांशभास एता महाचितेः । स्वभावभूता एवान्तस्स्थिता नायान्ति यान्ति नो
These are like rays from thousands of atoms, belonging to the great consciousness; they exist inherently within and neither come nor go.
स्वयम् अन्तश् चमत्कारो यस् समुद्गीर्यते चिता । तत् सर्गभानं भातीदं भारूपं न च भित्तिमत्
Whatever wonder arises within itself from consciousness, that appears as the manifestation of creation—shining forth as form, yet without any real substance.
नोद्यन्ति न च नश्यन्ति नायान्ति न च यान्ति च । महाशिलान्तर्लेखानां सन्निवेश इवाचलाः
They neither arise nor perish, neither come nor go, like the arrangement of lines within a great rock—immovable.
इमे सर्गाः प्रस्फुरन्ति स्वतस् स्वात्मनि निर्मले । नभसीव नभोभागा निराकारा निराकृतौ
These creations arise spontaneously within the pure Self, just as portions of space appear within the sky, formless within the formless.