1. Chapter 1

श्रीराम उवाच । नैष्कर्म्यात्कल्पनात्यागात्तनुः पतति देहिनः । कथमेतदतो ब्रह्मन्संभवत्याशु जीवतः ॥ १ ॥

śrīrāma uvāca | naiṣkarmyātkalpanātyāgāttanuḥ patati dehinaḥ | kathametadato brahmansaṃbhavatyāśu jīvataḥ || 1 ||

Rama rejoined:—The renunciation of the notion of one's personality or egoism in his own person, being attended by its attendant evil of inertness and inactivity (lit. want of acts), it naturally brings on a premature decay and decline, and the eventual falling off of the body in a short time: how then is it possible sir, for an indifferent person of this kind, to practice his actions and discharge the active duties of life (as you preached in your last lecture)?.

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । जीवतः कल्पनात्यागो युज्यते न त्वजीवतः । रूपमस्य यथातत्त्वं श्रृणु श्रवणभूषणम् ॥ २ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | jīvataḥ kalpanātyāgo yujyate na tvajīvataḥ | rūpamasya yathātattvaṃ śrṛṇu śravaṇabhūṣaṇam || 2 ||

Vasishtha replied:—It is possible Rama, for the living person to resign his false ideas and not for one that is dead and gone (because the life of a man is independent of his notions; while the notions are dependant on his life). Hear me now to expound this truth, and it will greatly please your ears:

अहंभावनमेवाहुः कल्पनं कल्पनाविदः । नभोर्थभावनं तस्य संकल्पत्याग उच्यते ॥ ३ ॥

ahaṃbhāvanamevāhuḥ kalpanaṃ kalpanāvidaḥ | nabhorthabhāvanaṃ tasya saṃkalpatyāga ucyate || 3 ||

The idea of one's egoism (or his personality in own person), is said to be an idealism by idealists; but it is the conception of the signification of the word air or vacuity (which is the essence of the Deity), that is represented as the repudiation of that erroneous notion.

पदार्थरसमेवाहुः कल्पनं कल्पनाविदः । नभोर्थभावनं तस्य संकल्पत्याग उच्यते ॥ ४ ॥

padārtharasamevāhuḥ kalpanaṃ kalpanāvidaḥ | nabhorthabhāvanaṃ tasya saṃkalpatyāga ucyate || 4 ||

The idealists represent the sense of all substances, as a creation of the imagination, while it is the idea of a pure vacuum, which they say to be the resignation of this erroneous conception.

इदं वस्त्विति संवेगमाहुः कल्पनमुत्तमाः । नभोर्थभावनं तस्य संकल्पत्याग उच्यते ॥ ५ ॥

idaṃ vastviti saṃvegamāhuḥ kalpanamuttamāḥ | nabhorthabhāvanaṃ tasya saṃkalpatyāga ucyate || 5 ||

The idea of any thing in the world as something in reality, is said to be mere imaginary by the best and wisest of men; but the belief of all things as an empty nothing, displaces the error of thought from the mind. Since all things are reduced to and return to nothing, it is this alone which is the ever lasting something.

स्मरणं विद्धि संकल्पं शिवमस्मरणं विदुः । तच्च प्रागनुभूतं च नानुभूतं च भाव्यते ॥ ६ ॥

smaraṇaṃ viddhi saṃkalpaṃ śivamasmaraṇaṃ viduḥ | tacca prāganubhūtaṃ ca nānubhūtaṃ ca bhāvyate || 6 ||

Know thy remembrance of anything, is thy imagination of it only, and its forgetfulness alone is good for thee; therefore try to blot out all thy former impressions from thy mind, as if they were never impressed on it.

अनुभूतां नानुभूतां स्मृतिं विस्मृत्य काष्ठवत् । सर्वमेवाशु विस्मृत्य गूढस्तिष्ठ महामते ॥ ७ ॥

anubhūtāṃ nānubhūtāṃ smṛtiṃ vismṛtya kāṣṭhavat | sarvamevāśu vismṛtya gūḍhastiṣṭha mahāmate || 7 ||

Efface from thy mind the memory of all thou hast felt or unfelt (i.e. fancied), and remain silent and secluded like a block after thy forgetfulness of all things whatsoever.

सर्वास्मरणमात्रात्मा तिष्ठायातेषु कर्मसु । अर्धसुप्तशिशुस्पन्द इवाभ्यस्तोपपत्तिषु ॥ ८ ॥

sarvāsmaraṇamātrātmā tiṣṭhāyāteṣu karmasu | ardhasuptaśiśuspanda ivābhyastopapattiṣu || 8 ||

Continue in the practice of thy continuous actions, with an utter oblivion of the past (no need of the assistance of thy memory of the past, in the discharge of thy present duties); because thy habit of activity is enough to conduct thee through all the actions of thy life, as it is the habit of a half-sleeping baby to move its limbs.

निःसंकल्पप्रवाहेण चक्रं प्रस्पन्दते यथा । स्पन्दस्वकर्मस्वनघप्राक्संस्कारवशात्तथा ॥ ९ ॥

niḥsaṃkalpapravāheṇa cakraṃ praspandate yathā | spandasvakarmasvanaghaprāksaṃskāravaśāttathā || 9 ||

It requires no design or desire on the part of an actor to act his part, whereto he is led by the tenor of his prior propensities (of past lives); as a potter's wheel is propelled by the pristine momentum, without requiring the application of continued force for its whirling motion. So O sinless Rama! mind our actions to be under the direction of our previous impressions, and not under the exertion of our present efforts.

अविद्यमानचित्तस्त्वं सत्त्वसंस्कारमागतः । प्रवाहपतितेष्वेव स्पन्दस्व स्वेषु कर्मसु ॥ १० ॥

avidyamānacittastvaṃ sattvasaṃskāramāgataḥ | pravāhapatiteṣveva spandasva sveṣu karmasu || 10 ||

Hence inappetency has become the congenial tendency of your mind, without its inclination to the gratification of its appetites. The leanings of men to particular pursuits, are directed by the current of their previous propensities. The predisposition of the mind, is said to be the cause of the formation of the character and fortune of a man in his present state, (which is otherwise said to be the result of his predestination) which runs as a stream in wonted course, and carries all men as straws floating along with its tide.

ऊर्ध्वबाहुर्विरौम्येष न च कश्चिच्छृणोति मे । असंकल्पः परं श्रेयः स किमन्तर्न भाव्यते ॥ ११ ॥

ūrdhvabāhurviraumyeṣa na ca kaścicchṛṇoti me | asaṃkalpaḥ paraṃ śreyaḥ sa kimantarna bhāvyate || 11 ||

I am proclaiming it with a loud voice and lifted arms, and yet no body will hearken unto me when I say that, want of desire is our supreme bliss and summum bonum, and yet why is it that none would perceive it as such?

अहो मोहस्य माहात्म्यं यदयं सर्वदुःखहा । चिन्तामणिर्विचाराख्यो हृत्स्थोऽपि त्यज्यते जनैः ॥ १२ ॥

aho mohasya māhātmyaṃ yadayaṃ sarvaduḥkhahā | cintāmaṇirvicārākhyo hṛtstho'pi tyajyate janaiḥ || 12 ||

O the wondrous power of illusion! that it makes men to slight their reason, and throw away the richest jewel of their mind, from the chest of their breast wherein it is deposited.

अवेदनमसंकल्पस्तन्मयेनैव भूयताम् । एतावत्परमं श्रेयः स्वयमेवानुभूयताम् ॥ १३ ॥

avedanamasaṃkalpastanmayenaiva bhūyatām | etāvatparamaṃ śreyaḥ svayamevānubhūyatām || 13 ||

The best way to inappetence, is the ignoring and abnegation of the phenomenals which I want you to do; and know that your disavowal of all is of the greatest boon to you, as you will be best able to perceive in yourself.

किल तूष्णीं स्थितेनैव तत्पदं प्राप्यते परम् । परमं यत्र साम्राज्यमपि राम तृणायते ॥ १४ ॥

kila tūṣṇīṃ sthitenaiva tatpadaṃ prāpyate param | paramaṃ yatra sāmrājyamapi rāma tṛṇāyate || 14 ||

Sitting silent with calm content, will lead you to that blissful state, before which your possession of an empire will seem insignificant, and rather serving to increase your desire for more.

गम्यदेशैकनिष्ठस्य यथा पान्थस्य पादयोः । स्पन्दो विगतसंकल्पस्तथा स्पन्दस्व कर्मसु ॥ १५ ॥

gamyadeśaikaniṣṭhasya yathā pānthasya pādayoḥ | spando vigatasaṃkalpastathā spandasva karmasu || 15 ||

As the feet of a traveller are in continued motion, until he reaches to his destination; so are the body and mind of the avaricious in continual agitation, unless his inappetence would give him respite from his incessant action.

सर्वकर्मफलाभोगमलं विस्मृत्य सुप्तवत् । प्रवाहपतिते कार्ये स्पन्दस्व गतवेदनम् ॥ १६ ॥

sarvakarmaphalābhogamalaṃ vismṛtya suptavat | pravāhapatite kārye spandasva gatavedanam || 16 ||

Forget and forsake your expectation of fruition of the result of your actions, and allow yourself to be carried onward by the current of your fortune, and without taking anything to thy mind; as a sleeping man is insensibly carried on by his dreams.

स्पन्दस्वाकृतसंकल्पं सुखदुःखान्यभावयन् । प्रवाहपतिते कार्ये चेष्टितोन्मुक्तशष्पवत् ॥ १७ ॥

spandasvākṛtasaṃkalpaṃ sukhaduḥkhānyabhāvayan | pravāhapatite kārye ceṣṭitonmuktaśaṣpavat || 17 ||

Stir yourself to action as it occurs to you, and without any purpose or desire of yours in it, and without your feeling any pain or pleasure therein; let the current of the business conduct you onward, as the current of a stream carries down a straw in its course.

रसभावनमन्तस्ते मालं भवतु कर्मसु । दारुयन्त्रमयस्येव परार्थमिव कुर्वतः ॥ १८ ॥

rasabhāvanamantaste mālaṃ bhavatu karmasu | dāruyantramayasyeva parārthamiva kurvataḥ || 18 ||

Take to thy heart no pleasure or pain, in the discharge of the work in which thou art employed; but remain insensible of both like a wooden machine which works for others.

नीरसा एव ते सन्तु समस्तेन्द्रियसंविदः । आकारमात्रसंलक्ष्या हेमन्तर्तौ लता इव ॥ १९ ॥

nīrasā eva te santu samastendriyasaṃvidaḥ | ākāramātrasaṃlakṣyā hemantartau latā iva || 19 ||

Remain insensible of pleasure or pain, in thy body and mind and all the organs of senses; like the sapless trees and plants in winter, when they bear their bare trunks without the sensitiveness of their parts.

बोधार्कपीतरसया स्पन्दन् षड्वर्गसत्तया । यन्त्रस्पन्दोपमस्तिष्ठ वल्ल्येव शिशिरे द्रुमः ॥ २० ॥

bodhārkapītarasayā spandan ṣaḍvargasattayā | yantraspandopamastiṣṭha vallyeva śiśire drumaḥ || 20 ||

Let the sun of thy good understanding, suck up the sensibility of thy six external senses, as the solar rays dry up the moisture of winter plants; and continue to work with the members of thy body, as an engine is set to work.

चिदान्तररसान्येव प्रवृत्तान्यपि धारय । स्वयत्नेनेन्द्रियाण्याशु हेमन्तर्तुस्तरूनिव ॥ २१ ॥

cidāntararasānyeva pravṛttānyapi dhāraya | svayatnenendriyāṇyāśu hemantartustarūniva || 21 ||

Restrain thy intellectual pleasures from their inclination to sensual gratifications, and retain thy spiritual joy in thyself, for the support of thy life; as the ground retains the roots of trees in it very carefully in winter for their growth in the season of spring.

सरसेन्द्रियवृत्तेस्ते कुर्वतोऽकुर्वतस्तथा । संसारानर्थसार्थोऽयं न कदाचन शाम्यति ॥ २२ ॥

sarasendriyavṛtteste kurvato'kurvatastathā | saṃsārānarthasārtho'yaṃ na kadācana śāmyati || 22 ||

It is the same whether you continually gratify or not the cravings of your senses, they will continue insatiate notwithstanding all your supplies, and the vanities of the world will profit you nothing.

निःसंकल्पमरुज्ज्वालायन्त्राम्बुस्पन्दवद्यदि । स्पन्दसे तदनन्ताय श्रेयसे परिकल्पसे ॥ २३ ॥

niḥsaṃkalpamarujjvālāyantrāmbuspandavadyadi | spandase tadanantāya śreyase parikalpase || 23 ||

If you move about continually like a running stream, or as the continuous shaking of the water in an aerostatic or hydraulic engine, and be free from every desire and craving of your mind, you are then said to advance towards your endless felicity.

एतदेव परं धैर्यं जन्मज्वरनिवारणम् । यदवासनमभ्यस्ता निजकर्मसु कर्तृता ॥ २४ ॥

etadeva paraṃ dhairyaṃ janmajvaranivāraṇam | yadavāsanamabhyastā nijakarmasu kartṛtā || 24 ||

Know this as a transcendent truth, and capable of preventing all your future transmigrations in this world, that you become accustomed to the free agency of all your actions, without being dragged to them by your desires.

अवासनमसंकल्पं यथाप्राप्तानुवृत्तिमान् । शनैश्चक्रभ्रमाभोग इव स्पन्दस्व कर्मसु ॥ २५ ॥

avāsanamasaṃkalpaṃ yathāprāptānuvṛttimān | śanaiścakrabhramābhoga iva spandasva karmasu || 25 ||

Pursue your business as it occurs to you, without any desire or purpose of your own towards its object; but continue to turn about your calling, as the potter's wheel revolves round its fulcrum.

मा कर्मफलबुद्धिर्भूर्मा ते सङ्गोऽस्त्वकर्मणि । उभयं वा त्यजैतत्त्वमुभयं वा समाश्रय ॥ २६ ॥

mā karmaphalabuddhirbhūrmā te saṅgo'stvakarmaṇi | ubhayaṃ vā tyajaitattvamubhayaṃ vā samāśraya || 26 ||

Neither have in view the object of your action, nor the reward of your action; but know it to be equally alike whether you refrain from action, or do it without your desire of fruition.

बहुनात्र किमुक्तेन संक्षेपादिदमुच्यते । संकल्पनं मनोबन्धस्तदभावो विमुक्तता ॥ २७ ॥

bahunātra kimuktena saṃkṣepādidamucyate | saṃkalpanaṃ manobandhastadabhāvo vimuktatā || 27 ||

But what is the use of much verbosity, when it can be expressed in short and in a few words, that the desire of fruition is the bondage of your soul, and your relinquishment of it is fraught with your perfect freedom.

नेह कार्यं न वाऽकार्यमस्ति किंचिन्न कुत्रचित् । सर्वं शिवमजं शान्तमनन्तं प्राग्वदास्यताम् ॥ २८ ॥

neha kāryaṃ na vā'kāryamasti kiṃcinna kutracit | sarvaṃ śivamajaṃ śāntamanantaṃ prāgvadāsyatām || 28 ||

There is no business whatever for us in this world, that must be done or abandoned by us at any time or place; every thing is good that comes from the good God, therefore sit you quiet with your cold indifference as before the occurrence of any event.

पश्यन्कर्मण्यकर्मत्वमकर्मणि च कर्मताम् । यथाभूतार्थचिद्रूपः शान्तमास्व यथासुखम् ॥ २९ ॥

paśyankarmaṇyakarmatvamakarmaṇi ca karmatām | yathābhūtārthacidrūpaḥ śāntamāsva yathāsukham || 29 ||

Think thy works as no works, and take thy abstinence from action for thy greatest work, but remain as quiet in your mind in both your action and inaction, as the Divine Intellect is in ecstasies amidst the thick of its action.

अवेदनं विदुर्योगं चित्तक्षयमकृत्रिमम् । अत्यन्तं तन्मयो भूत्वा तथा तिष्ठ यथासि भोः ॥ ३० ॥

avedanaṃ viduryogaṃ cittakṣayamakṛtrimam | atyantaṃ tanmayo bhūtvā tathā tiṣṭha yathāsi bhoḥ || 30 ||

Know the unconsciousness of all things to be the true trance-yoga, and requiring the entire suppression of the mental operations. Remain wholly intent on the Supreme spirit, until thou art one and the same with it.

समे शान्ते शिवे सूक्ष्मे द्वैतैक्यपरिवर्जिते । ततेऽनन्ते परे शुद्धे किं केन किल खिद्यते ॥ ३१ ॥

same śānte śive sūkṣme dvaitaikyaparivarjite | tate'nante pare śuddhe kiṃ kena kila khidyate || 31 ||

Being identified with that tranquil and subtile spirit, and divested of the sense of dualism or existence of anything else; nobody can sorrow for ought, when he is himself absorbed in his thought, in the endless and pure essence of God.

नोदेतु त्वयि संकल्पो मरुभूमाविवाङ्कुरः । इच्छा नोदेतु भवति लतिकेवोपलोदरे ॥ ३२ ॥

nodetu tvayi saṃkalpo marubhūmāvivāṅkuraḥ | icchā nodetu bhavati latikevopalodare || 32 ||

Let no desire rise in thy indifferent mind, like a tender germ sprouting in the sterile desert soil; nor allow a wish to grow in thee, like a slender blade shooting in the bosom of a barren rock.

अवेदनस्य शान्तस्य जीवतो वाप्यजीवतः । नेह किंचित्कृतेनार्थो नाकृतेनापि कश्चन ॥ ३३ ॥

avedanasya śāntasya jīvato vāpyajīvataḥ | neha kiṃcitkṛtenārtho nākṛtenāpi kaścana || 33 ||

The unconscious and insensible saint, derives no good or evil by his doing or undoing of any deed or duty in his living state, nor in his next life.

यत्कर्माकर्म शान्तेऽन्तः शाश्वताभेदरूपिणि । न कर्मणि च कर्माणि न कर्तर्यपि कर्तृता ॥ ३४ ॥

yatkarmākarma śānte'ntaḥ śāśvatābhedarūpiṇi | na karmaṇi ca karmāṇi na kartaryapi kartṛtā || 34 ||

There is no sense of duty nor that of its dereliction neither, in the minds of the saintly Yogis, who always view the equality of all things and acts; and never consider their deeds as their own doings, nor think themselves as the agents of their own actions.

अहंममेति संविदन्न दुःखतो विमुच्यसे । असंविदन्विमुच्यसे यदीप्सितं तदाचर ॥ ३५ ॥

ahaṃmameti saṃvidanna duḥkhato vimucyase | asaṃvidanvimucyase yadīpsitaṃ tadācara || 35 ||

The consciousness of egoism and the sense of meiety of selfishness, will never release a man from the miseries of life; it is his unconsciousness of these, that can only save him from all sorrow, wherefore it lies in the option of every body, to choose for him either of these as he may best like.

अहं ममेति नास्त्यलं यदस्ति तच्छिवं परम् । परात्परं त्विदं शिवादशब्दमर्थरूपकम् ॥ ३६ ॥

ahaṃ mameti nāstyalaṃ yadasti tacchivaṃ param | parātparaṃ tvidaṃ śivādaśabdamartharūpakam || 36 ||

There is no other ego or meiety excepting that of the one self-existent and omniform Deity; and besides the essence of this transcendent being, it is hard to account anything of the multifarious things that appear to be otherwise than Himself.

यद्दृश्यते जगदिदं खलु किंचिदेतद्हेम्नोऽङ्गदत्वमिव भाति न विद्यमानम् । अस्य क्षयं विदुरवेदनमेव पश्चात्सत्यं तदेव परमार्थमथावशिष्टम् ॥ ३७ ॥

yaddṛśyate jagadidaṃ khalu kiṃcidetadhemno'ṅgadatvamiva bhāti na vidyamānam | asya kṣayaṃ viduravedanameva paścātsatyaṃ tadeva paramārthamathāvaśiṣṭam || 37 ||

The visible world that appears so vividly to our sight, is no more than the manifestation of the One Divine Essence in many, like the transformation of gold in the multiform shapes of jewels; but seeing the continual decay and disappearance of the phenomenals, we ignore their separate existence. We confess the sole existence of the One that lasts after all and for ever.