Bhashya
तस्य एतस्य पुरुषस्य वै द्वे एव स्थाने भवतः, न तृतीयं चतुर्थंवा; के ते? इदं च यत् प्रतिपन्नं वर्तमानं जन्म शरीरेन्द्रिय-विषयवेदनाविशिष्टं स्थानं प्रत्यक्षतोऽनुभूयमानम्, परलोकएव स्थानम् परलोकस्थानम्- तच्च शरीरादिवियोगोत्तरका-लानुभाव्यम् ।ननु स्वप्नोऽपि परलोकः; तथा च सति द्वेएवेत्यवधारणमयुक्तम्- न; कथं तर्हि? संध्यं तत्- इह-लोकपरलोकयोः संधिः तस्मिन्भवं संध्यम्, यत् तृतीयंतत् स्वप्नस्थानम्; तेन स्थानद्वित्वावधारणम्; न हि ग्रामयोःसंधिः तावेव ग्रामावपेक्ष्य तृतीयत्वपरिगणनमहति ।कथंपुनः तस्य परलोकस्थोनस्य अस्तित्वमवगम्यते, यदपेक्ष्यस्वप्नस्थानं संध्यं भवेत्- यतः तस्मिन्संध्ये स्वप्नस्थानेतिष्ठन् भवन् वर्तमानः एते उभे स्थाने पश्यति; केते उभे? इदं च परलोकस्थानं च ।तस्मात् स्तः स्व-प्रजागरितव्यतिरेकेण उभौ लोकौ, यौ धिया समानःसन् अनुसंचरति जन्ममरणसंतानप्रबन्धेन ।कथं पुनःस्वप्ने स्थितः सन् उभौ लोकौ पश्यति, किमाश्रयःकेन विधिना- इत्युच्यते- अथ कथं पश्यतीति शृ-णु- यथाक्रमः आक्रामति अनेन इत्याक्रमः आश्रयः अव-
In plain words
This same person has only two real states -- never a third, never a fourth. What are they? One is right here: the present life you are living now, marked by body, senses, and what they take in, the one you experience directly. The other is the world beyond, and only that deserves the name 'the other-world state' -- you experience it only in the time after you part from this body. But wait, someone says: isn't dream also another world? If so, 'only two' can't be right. No. Dream is not a third state -- it is the seam. Think of it as the joint between this world and the other world; whatever arises within that joint is 'the joint-state', and that supposed third thing is simply the dream-state. So the count of two still holds -- the seam between two villages is never itself counted as a third village. But then how do we even know that other world exists, the one dream is the seam between? Because standing right there, in that seam we call dream, a person genuinely sees both -- this world and the other world. That is how we know. So these two worlds are real, distinct from both waking and dreaming, and the person, remaining one and the same in awareness the whole time, keeps moving between them, birth after birth, death after death, without a break. But how, lying there in a dream, does someone see both worlds -- resting on what, by what means? Listen, and I will tell you how he sees it. By whatever he moves forward upon, in due order -- that forward movement is what is called 'ākrama'. Its support...
Close to the Sanskrit
Of this same person, indeed, there are only two states, not a third or a fourth. Which two? This one -- that is, the state consisting of the present life that has been obtained, marked by body, senses, objects, and experience, directly experienced -- and the other-world state alone, 'the other-world state'; and that is to be experienced only in the time following separation from the body and the rest. But, [an objector says,] dream too is another world; and if so, the restriction 'only two' is unjustified. No. How then? 'That is the junction' -- the junction of this world and the other world; what arises in that junction is 'the junction-state', and that, which appears as a third, is the dream-state. By this the restriction to two states still holds; for the border between two villages does not deserve to be counted as a third, with reference to those same two villages. But how, again, is the existence of that other-world state -- with reference to which the dream-state is called a junction -- to be known? Because, standing right there in that junction, the dream-state, one who exists and is present sees these two states; which two? This one, and the other-world state. Therefore these two worlds exist, distinct from the states of dream and waking, which [the person], remaining the same in awareness, continually traverses through the unbroken succession of birth and death. But how, again, situated in dream, does he see both worlds -- resting on what, by what method? It is said [in reply]: now listen how he sees -- by whatever he advances in due order upon, that is 'ākrama' [the approach]; its support...