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स्वाभाविकब्रह्मभावात् ।तं प्रमादं मिथ्याज्ञानस्यापि कारणम् आत्मानवधारणमात्माज्ञानं मृत्युं जननमरणादिसर्वानर्थबीजम् अहं ब्रवीमि ।तथा सदाप्रमादं स्वाभाविकब्रह्मरूपावस्थानम् अमृतत्वं ब्रवीमि ।तथा च श्रुतिः स्वरूपावस्थानमेव मोक्षपदं दर्शयति— ‘परं ज्योतिरुपसंपद्य स्वेन रूपेणाभिनिष्पद्यते’ इति ।तथा अनुगीतासु स्पष्टमाह— ‘एको यज्ञो नास्ति ततो द्वितीयो यो हृच्छयस्तमहमनुब्रवीमि ।यस्मिन्निदं सर्वमिदं प्रतिष्ठं स्वरूपसंस्थाश्च भवन्ति सर्वाः’ इति ।यत एवं स्वरूपावस्थानलक्षणो मोक्षः, अत एव चतुर्विधक्रियाफलविलक्षणत्वादेव न कर्मसाध्यममृतत्वम्; नापि समुच्चिताभ्यां ज्ञानकर्माभ्यामिति ‘अमृत्युः कर्मणा केचित्’ इत्येतदनुपपन्नमेवेत्युक्तं भवति ।वक्ष्यति चास्य पक्षस्य स्वयमेव निराकरणम्— ‘कर्मोदये कर्मफलानुरागात्तत्रानुयान्ति न तरन्ति मृत्युम् ।ज्ञानेन विद्वांस्तेजोऽभ्येति नित्यं न विद्यते ह्यन्यथा तस्य पन्थाः’ इति ॥
In plain words
I declare that heedlessness—the root cause of false knowledge, self-ignorance, death, and every sorrow like birth and death—is falling away from our natural state as brahman. And I declare that continuous vigilance, which is resting permanently in that natural state, is true immortality. Scripture itself reveals that liberation is nothing other than abiding in one's true nature: 'Having reached the supreme light, he manifests in his own true form.' The Anugita likewise declares: 'There is no second sacrifice apart from the One dwelling within the heart, of whom I speak. In Him all this is established, and in Him all beings find their rest.' Because liberation is simply resting in what we already are, it cannot be produced by ritual action, for it is entirely unlike any worldly fruit generated by works. Nor can it be won by a combination of knowledge and action. The notion that some attain immortality through action is simply unsustainable. The text itself rejects this view: 'Bound to the fruits of action when action arises, people follow it and fail to cross over death. Only the wise man, through direct knowledge, attains the eternal light; there is no other path whatsoever.'
Close to the Sanskrit
From the natural state of brahman, that negligence—which is the cause even of false knowledge, non-apprehension of the self, self-ignorance, death, and the seed of all evils such as birth and death—I declare. And similarly, I declare ever-heedfulness, which is abiding in the natural form of brahman, to be immortality. And the Veda shows that abiding in one's own form alone is the state of liberation—'Having reached the supreme light, he emerges with his own form.' And in the Anugita it clearly states—'There is no second sacrifice other than him who dwells in the heart, whom I declare. In whom all this is established and into whose nature all entities dissolve.' Since liberation is characterized by abiding in one's own nature, therefore immortality is not accomplished by action, precisely because it is distinct from the fruit of fourfold action; nor is it accomplished by knowledge and action combined, so the view that 'some are freed from death by action' is untenable, as has been said. And it will itself refute this view later—'At the rise of action, attached to the fruit of action, they follow it and do not cross over death; by knowledge the wise one attains the effulgence eternally; for no other path exists for him.'