Bhashya
ष्टम्भ इत्यर्थः; यादृशः आक्रमोऽस्य, सोऽयं यथाक्रमः; अयं पुरुषः, परलोकस्थाने प्रतिपत्तव्ये निमित्ते, यथाक्रमो भवति यादृशेन परलोकप्रतिपत्तिसाधनेन विद्याकर्मपूर्वप्रज्ञा-लक्षणेन युक्तो भवतीत्यर्थः; तम् आक्रमम् परलोकस्थानायो-न्मुखीभूतं प्राप्ताङ्कुरीभावमिव बीजं तमाक्रमम् आक्रम्य अवष्टभ्य आश्रित्य उभयान्पश्यति- बहुवचनं धर्माधर्मफ-लानेकत्वात्- उभयान् उभयप्रकारानित्यर्थः; कांस्तान्? पा-प्मनः पापफलानि- न तु पुनः साक्षादेव पाप्मनां दर्शनं संभवति, तस्मात् पापफलानि दुःखानीत्यर्थः- आनन्दांश्च धर्मफलानि सुखानीत्येतत्- तानुभयान् पाप्मनः आन-न्दांश्च पश्यति जन्मान्तरदृष्टवासनामयान्; यानि च प्रति-पत्तव्यजन्मविषयाणि क्षुद्रधर्माधर्मफलानि, धर्माधर्मप्रयुक्तो देवतानुग्रहाद्वा पश्यति ।तत्कथमवगम्यते परलोकस्थान-भावितत्पाप्मानन्ददर्शनं स्वप्ने- इत्युच्यते- यस्मात् इह ज-न्मनि अननुभाव्यमपि पश्यति बहु; न च स्वप्नो नाम अपूर्व दर्शनम्; पूर्वदृष्टस्मृतिर्हि स्वप्नः प्रायेण; तेन स्वप्न-जागरितस्थानव्यतिरेकेण स्तः उभौ लोकौ ।यत् आदित्या-दिबाह्यज्योतिषामभावे अयं कार्यकारणसंघातः पुरुषः येन व्यतिरिक्तेन आत्मना ज्योतिषा व्यवहरतीत्युक्तम्- तदेव नास्ति, यत् आदित्यादिज्योतिषामभावगमनम्, यत्र इदंविविक्तं स्वयंज्योतिः उपलभ्येत ; येन सर्वदैव अयं कार्यक-रणसंघातः संसृष्ट एवोपलभ्यते ; तस्मात् असत्समः असन्नेववा स्वेन विविक्तस्वभावेन ज्योतीरूपेण आत्मेति ।अथ क-चित् विविक्तः स्वेन ज्योतीरूपेण उपलभ्येत बाह्याध्यात्मिक-भूतभौतिकसंसर्गशून्यः, ततः यथोक्तं सर्वं भविष्यतीत्येतदर्थ-माह — सः यः प्रकृत आत्मा, यत्र यस्मिन्काले, प्रस्वपितिप्रकर्षेण स्वापमनुभवति ; तदा किमुपादानः केन विधिनास्वपिति संध्यं स्थानं प्रतिपद्यत इत्युच्यते — अस्य दृष्टस्यलोकस्य जागरितलक्षणस्य, सर्वावतः सर्वमवतीति सर्वावा-न् अयं लोकः कार्यकरणसंघातः विषयवेदनासंयुक्तः ; सर्वा-वत्त्वम् अस्य व्याख्यातम् अन्नत्रयप्रकरणे ‘अथो अयं वाआत्मा’ इत्यादिना — सर्वा वा भूतभौतिकमात्राः अस्य सं-सर्गकारणभूता विद्यन्त इति सर्ववान् , सर्ववानेव सर्वावान् ,तस्य सर्वावतः मात्राम् एकदेशम् अवयवम् , अपादाय अप-च्छिद्य आदाय गृहीत्वा — दृष्टजन्मवासनावासितः सन्नित्य-र्थः, स्वयम् आत्मनैव विहत्य देहं पातयित्वा निःसंबोधमा-पाद्य — जागरिते हि आदित्यादीनां चक्षुरादिष्वनुग्रहो देह-व्यवहारार्थः, देहव्यवहारश्च आत्मनो धर्माधर्मफलोपभोगप्र-युक्तः, तद्धर्माधर्मफलोपभोगोपरमणम् अस्मिन्देहे आत्मक-र्मोपरमकृतमिति आत्मा अस्य विहन्तेत्युच्यते — स्वयं नि-
In plain words
'ṣṭambha' completes the word: support, prop. Whatever momentum a person carries from his own past -- that momentum is what we call his 'due approach.' With respect to the other-world state still waiting to be reached, this is exactly what a person is equipped with: whatever means of getting there his knowledge and action have already built into him as insight. Mounting that momentum, gripping it, leaning on it -- the way a seed leans into its own readiness to sprout -- he sees two kinds of things. We use the plural because the fruits of right and wrong action come in many forms, not just one of each. Which two kinds? The fruits of wrongdoing -- never the wrongs themselves, since no one perceives a sin directly, only its result, which is suffering -- and the fruits of right action, which are joys and pleasures. Both of these he sees, and they are made entirely of impressions carried over from another life. He also glimpses the small, specific fruits of right and wrong waiting for him in the birth still to come, driven there by his own deeds or by a god's favor. But how do we know this dream-seeing of an unseen world's rewards and punishments is real? Because in this very life, a person regularly sees things in dream he has never once experienced awake -- and dream, contrary to what people assume, is not really the seeing of anything brand new. Dream is, in the main, memory of what was already seen. That is exactly how we know these two worlds exist, apart from either waking or dreaming. Now, someone had claimed that this bundle of body and senses, in the absence of the sun and every other outer light, keeps functioning by a separate light of its own -- the self. But that claim can never actually be shown, because no one has ever found the sun's light genuinely absent, with this bare inner light standing there alone to be caught in the act. This whole aggregate is always observed mixed together with outer light, never once apart from it. So a self-as-light, standing purely on its own, is as good as unreal -- call it non-existent if you like. But if there were even one case where it showed up alone, free of every trace of outer and inner matter, then everything claimed about it would hold. And that is exactly why the text goes on to say: this self, at the time it sleeps -- meaning falls into deep sleep completely -- does so by what material, by what method, entering the junction-state? Here is the explanation. This visible world, the world of waking, is called 'the all-possessor' because it protects everything; it is this same bundle of body and instruments, joined to the experience of objects. Why 'all-possessing'? Because every subtle and gross particle of matter needed to build it is already present -- that was explained earlier in the section on the threefold food. Taking a portion of that all-possessing world -- cutting off, carrying away, seizing one part of it, meaning: soaked through with the residue of this waking life -- he himself, by no other agent, knocks the body flat, drops it, and empties it of all awareness. Because in waking, the sun and its fellow lights lend their grace to the eye and the other senses purely so the body can function, and the body functions purely so the self can enjoy the fruit of its own past deeds; and when that enjoyment pauses in this particular body, it is because the self's own driving karma has paused. That is exactly why the self is called the demolisher of its own body. Himself...
Close to the Sanskrit
'ṣṭambha' -- that is the meaning [completing 'avaṣṭambha', support]. Whatever kind of approach this person has, that is 'yathākrama' [approach-in-due-order]. With respect to the cause by which the other-world state, yet to be attained, is reached, this person is 'yathākrama' -- meaning he is endowed with whatever means of attaining the other world, characterized by the insight preceded by knowledge and action. Having mounted, taken hold of, and relied upon that approach -- which has become oriented toward the other-world state, like a seed that has reached the state of sprouting -- he sees both kinds [of things]. The plural is used because the fruits of merit and demerit are manifold; 'ubhayān' means 'of both varieties.' Which two? The fruits of sin -- for direct perception of the sins themselves is not possible, so what is meant is the fruits of sin, that is, sufferings -- and joys, the fruits of merit, that is, pleasures: he sees both of these, made of impressions experienced in another birth; and whatever minor fruits of merit and demerit pertain to a birth yet to be attained, these too he sees, impelled by merit and demerit or by a deity's favor. How, then, is it known that this seeing, in dream, of sin and joy produced by the other-world state, [really occurs]? It is said: because, in this present life, one sees much that is never experienced here at all; and dream is not, by definition, the seeing of the wholly unprecedented, for dream, for the most part, is the memory of what was seen before. By this, the two worlds are proven to exist, distinct from the states of dream and waking. As for the claim that, in the absence of the sun and other external lights, this aggregate of effects and instruments, the person, functions by a light that is a separate self -- that very thing cannot be shown: namely, an actual passage into the absence of the light of the sun and the rest, in which this isolated, self-luminous principle could be apprehended; since this aggregate of effects and instruments is always found only in conjunction [with external light]. Therefore the self as an isolated light, in its own distinct nature, is as good as non-existent, or simply does not exist. But if someone, isolated, free of contact with the outer and inner elements and their products, could be apprehended in the very form of light, then everything stated would hold true. To establish exactly this point, [the text] says: 'he', the self under discussion, 'where,' at which time, 'sleeps' -- that is, experiences deep sleep intensely. Then, with what material cause, by what method does he sleep, [that is,] attain the junction-state? It is explained: of this visible world, characterized by waking -- 'sarvāvat' [all-possessing] because 'it protects everything' -- this world, the aggregate of effects and instruments, joined with the experience of objects; its being 'all-possessing' was explained in the section on the threefold food, by the passage beginning 'now, this self...'; because all the subtle and gross elemental particles that are the cause of its combination exist [in it], it is 'sarvāvat'; 'sarvavān' itself becomes 'sarvāvān' [lengthened]. Of that all-possessing world, having taken, cut off, appropriated, and seized a portion, a single part, a component -- meaning, being saturated with the impressions of this visible birth -- he himself, by himself alone, having struck down, having felled the body, having reduced it to unconsciousness -- for in the waking state, the favoring assistance of the sun and other lights upon the eye and the other senses is for the sake of the body's functioning, and the body's functioning is employed for the enjoyment of the fruits of the self's merit and demerit; the cessation of that enjoyment of the fruits of merit and demerit, in this particular body, is brought about by the cessation of the self's karma -- that is why the self is called the 'demolisher' of this body -- himself, [the sentence continues, truncated:] '...ni-'