स्वसङ्कल्पैः कृतास् सर्गे देवासुरनराचराः । स्वसङ्कल्पोपशमने शाम्यन्त्य् अस्नेहदीपवत्
Gods, demons, humans, and animals are created by their own thoughts at the beginning of creation; when those thoughts subside, they are extinguished, like lamps without oil.
आकाशसदृशं सर्वं कल्पनामात्रजृम्भितम् । जगत् पश्य महाबुद्धे सुदीर्घं स्वप्नम् उत्थितम्
See, O great intellect, this world, which is like space, is merely an expansion of imagination—a long dream that has arisen.
न जायते न म्रियते इह कश्चित् कदाचन । पारमार्थ्येन सुमते मिथ्या सर्वं प्रवर्तते
No one here is ever truly born or dies; in reality, O wise one, all activity is illusory.
न वृद्धिम् एति नो नाशं यत्र किञ्चित् कदाचन । रेखातरुवने तत्र कस्य नाम च खण्डना
Where nothing ever increases or perishes, what could possibly be destroyed there, as in a forest of lines drawn in the air?
भ्रमभूतं स्वकायं त्वम् अपश्यन् निपुणं दृशा । राघवाघहतस्वान्तः किम् अज्ञ इव भाषसे
You do not see your own body, which is a product of delusion, with keen insight; O Raghava, your heart afflicted by sorrow, why do you speak like one who is ignorant?
मृगतृष्णा यथा तापान् मनसो ऽतिशयात् तथा । असन्त एव दृश्यन्ते सर्वे ब्रह्मादयो ऽप्य् अमी
Just as the mirage appears due to intense heat, so too, through the force of the mind, all these beings, even Brahma and the rest, are seen though they are not real.
द्विचन्द्रविभ्रमप्रख्या मनोरथवद् उत्थिताः । मिथ्याज्ञानमयास् सर्वे जगत्य् आकारराशयः
All the forms in the world arise like the illusion of two moons or as fanciful daydreams, being entirely composed of false knowledge.
यथा नौयायिनो मिथ्या स्थाणुस्पन्दमतिस् तथा । असत्यैवोत्थिता नित्यम् आकाराणां परम्परा
Just as those riding a boat mistakenly perceive stationary objects as moving, so too, the succession of forms always arises falsely, without reality.
इन्द्रजालम् इदं विद्धि मायारचितपञ्जरम् । मनोमनननिर्माणं न सन् नासद् इव स्थितम्
Know this to be a magical illusion, a cage woven by maya; it is a creation of the mind's imagination, neither truly existent nor non-existent.
ब्रह्मैवेदं जगत् सर्वम् अन्यतायास् त्व् अतः कुतः । प्रसङ्गः कीदृशः को ऽसौ क्व चासौ परितिष्ठति
This entire world is Brahman alone; where then is the possibility of otherness? What sort of connection could there be, who is that, and where does it abide?
अयं गिरिर् अयं स्थाणुर् इत्य् आडम्बरविभ्रमः । मनसो भावनादार्ढ्याद् असत् सद् इव लक्ष्यते
This mountain, this tree—such displays are mere illusions; due to the mind's strong imagination, the unreal appears as if it were real.
प्रपञ्चचतुरारम्भम् अन्तस् तुच्छम् इदं जगत् । सकामतृष्णामननं त्यक्त्वान्यद् राम भावय
This world, with its fourfold expansion, is empty within; abandon the mind's desires and thirst, and contemplate something else, O Rama.
यथा स्वप्ने महारम्भो भ्रान्तिर् एव न वस्तुसत् । दीर्घस्वप्नं तथैवेदं विद्धि चित्तोपकल्पितम्
Just as in a dream, grand undertakings are mere delusion and not reality, so too, know this long dream to be a fabrication of the mind.
दृश्यमानमहाभोगं गृह्यमाणम् अवस्तुकम् । कोशम् आशाभुजङ्गीनां संसाराडम्बरं त्यज
Abandon the display of worldly existence, which is a treasury of desires like serpents, which appears as great enjoyment but is, when grasped, without substance.
असद् एतद् इति ज्ञात्वा मात्र भावं निवेशय । अनुधावति कः प्राज्ञो विज्ञाय मृगतृष्णिकाम्
Knowing this to be unreal, establish your mind in mere awareness; who, having recognized a mirage, would pursue it, if wise?
स्वसङ्कल्पोत्थरूपाढ्यां मनोरथमयीं स्त्रियम् । यो ऽनुगच्छति मूढात्मा दुःखस्यैव स भाजनम्
He who, being deluded, follows the woman made of wishful thinking, rich in forms arising from his own imagination, becomes only a vessel of suffering.
वस्तुन्य् असति लोको ऽयं यातु कामम् अवस्तुनि । यस् तु वस्तु परित्यज्य यात्य् अवस्तु स नश्यति
Let this world, in the absence of reality, go as it will toward the unreal; but he who abandons the real and pursues the unreal is destroyed.
मनोव्यामोह एवेदं रज्ज्वाम् अहिभयं यथा । भावनामात्रवैचित्र्याच् चिरम् आवर्तते जगत्
This is only the delusion of the mind, like fear of a snake in a rope; through the mere diversity of imagination, the world revolves for a long time.
असदभ्युदितैर् भावैर् जलान्तश्चन्द्रचञ्चलैः । वञ्च्यते बाल एवेह न तत्त्वज्ञो भवादृशः
Here, only the child is deceived by states arising from unreality, like the flickering moon in water; not the knower of truth, like you.
य इमं गुणसङ्घातं भावयन् सुखम् ईहते । प्रमार्ष्टि स जडो जाड्यं वह्नाव् अप्प्रतिबिम्बिते
He who, contemplating this mass of qualities, seeks happiness, is indeed dull; he wipes away dullness in fire that does not reflect.
असद् एवेदम् आभोगि दृश्यते दृश्यपञ्जरम् । मनोमनननिर्माणं हृदये नगरं यथा
This enjoyment is truly unreal; the cage of appearances is seen, a creation of mind and thought, like a city in the heart.
इदं चित्तेच्छयोदेति लीयते च तदिच्छया । मिथ्यैव दृश्यते स्फारं गन्धर्वनगरं यथा
This arises by the will of the mind and dissolves by that same will; it appears as a vast illusion, like a city conjured by celestial beings.
राम नष्टे जगत्य् अस्मिन् न किञ्चिद् अपि नश्यति । युक्ते ऽपि च जगत्य् अस्मिन् न किञ्चिद् अपि युज्यते
Rama, when this world is lost, nothing at all is truly lost; even when this world seems to exist, nothing is truly established.
मनःप्रकल्पिते भग्ने हृदि विस्तीर्णपत्तने । वृद्धिं वोपगते ब्रूहि किं वृद्धं कस्य किं क्षतं
When the city imagined by the mind is destroyed in the heart, which was its vast expanse, and if it is said to have grown, tell me—what has grown, for whom, and what has been harmed?
क्रीडार्थेन यथोदेति बालानां हृदि पत्तनम् । मनसा तद्वद् एवेदम् उदेत्य् अविरतं जगत्
Just as a city arises in the hearts of children for the sake of play, so too does this world arise ceaselessly in the mind.
न किञ्चित् कस्यचिन् नष्टम् इन्द्रजालजले यथा । भ्रष्टे नष्टे तथैवास्मिन् संसारे विभवोत्थिते
Nothing is lost for anyone, just as in the water of a magician’s illusion; so too, when this world, with its rise and fall, is lost or destroyed.
यद् असत् तद् असत् स्याच् चेत् तत् किं कस्य किल क्षतम् । अतो हर्षविषादाभ्यां संसारो नाम नास्पदम्
If what is unreal is indeed unreal, then what loss or harm can there be for anyone? Therefore, this so-called world is not truly a ground for joy or sorrow.
असद् एव यद् अत्यन्तं तस्मिन् किं नाम नश्यति । नाशाभावे हि दुःखस्य कः प्रसङ्गो महामते
If something is utterly unreal, what indeed can be lost in it? In the absence of loss, O wise one, how can there be any occasion for suffering?
सद् एव वा यद् अत्यन्तं तस्य किं नाम नश्यति । ब्रह्मैवेदं जगत् सर्वं सुखदुःखे किम् उत्थिते
Or if something is utterly real, what can be lost of it? This entire world is truly Brahman—what then is the cause of happiness or sorrow?
सर्वत्रासत्यभूते ऽस्मिन् प्रपञ्चैकान्तकारिणि । संसारे किम् उपादेयं प्राज्ञो यद् अभिवाञ्छतु
In this world, which is entirely unreal and brings only destruction, what is there for the wise to desire or accept in the cycle of existence?