The works of Ādi Śaṅkarācārya

Sanatsujātīyam

p. 301

p. 301

यथा सर्पा गह्वरेभ्यो निष्क्रम्य स्वेन वृत्तेन विषप्रदानेन मर्त्यान् क्षयं नीत्वा गह्वरेषु गूहन्ति स्वमात्मानं प्रच्छादयन्ति, एवमिन्द्रियसर्पाः श्रोत्रादिषु शयानाः श्रोत्रादिभ्यो निर्गत्य स्वेन वृत्तेन विषयविषप्रदानेन मर्त्यान् क्षयं नीत्वा गह्वरेषु गूहन्ति स्वमात्मानं प्रच्छादयन्ति; ते विप्रमुह्यन्ति विषयविषाभिभूताः विषेण मुह्यन्ति, व्यतिरिक्तं किंचिन्न जानन्तीत्यर्थः ।तथा च श्रुतिः—‘यथा प्रियया स्त्रिया संपरिष्वक्तः’ इति ।तैः इन्द्रियसर्पैः दत्ताः भोगाः विषकल्पाः विषयाः मर्त्यान् मोहयन्ते पुनः पुनर्मोहहेतवो भवन्ति ।यदिदं विषयैर्मोहनम्, तत् भवाय गर्भजन्मजरामरणसंसाराय भवति ।यमनवद्यम् अनुकल्पमाद्यम् अदृष्ट्वा विषयविषान्धाः मुह्यन्ति, तं योगिन एव पश्यन्ति ॥

In plain words

Just as serpents emerge from their holes and, through their venomous bite, lead mortals to ruin while hiding themselves away, so too the serpent-senses lie dormant in the ears and other organs, only to emerge and inject the venom of sense-objects, driving mortals to ruin and hiding the true self. Overpowered by this toxic delusion, people know nothing beyond it, just as scripture says: 'As a man embraced by his beloved wife...' The pleasures dealt out by these sense-serpents are nothing less than poison, dragging mortals into the endless cycle of birth, old age, and death. Failing to see that blameless, primeval reality, those blinded by sensory poison wander in delusion; only the yogis perceive it.

Close to the Sanskrit

Just as serpents, having emerged from holes by their own behavior with the administration of poison, leading mortals to destruction, conceal their own self in holes, thus the sense-serpents, lying in the ears and other senses, having emerged from the ears and other senses by their own behavior with the administration of object-poison, leading mortals to destruction, conceal their own self in holes. Those, overwhelmed by object-poison, are deluded by poison, meaning they know nothing else whatsoever. And thus the Shruti: 'As one fully embraced by a beloved woman...' Enjoyments given by those sense-serpents, being poison-like objects, delude mortals, becoming causes of delusion again and again. This delusion by objects becomes for worldly existence, for womb-birth, old age, death, and samsara. Not seeing that blameless, secondary, primeval one, those blinded by object-poison are deluded; yogis alone see that.