Prose-section 23
In plain words
Mind together with the five senses of knowing is the mental sheath. It is what divides things into “this,” “mine” and “I”; it takes countless forms, names and the rest; it is very powerful; and it fills and pervades the whole of the vital sheath. It is a fire. The five senses are the five priests who tend it; objects, sound and the rest, are the ghee poured in; the latent tendencies are the kindling. Fed in this way, this fire of mind blazes up and scorches the whole world with pain. There is no ignorance other than mind. Mind itself is the ignorance that causes the bondage of becoming. When it swells, everything swells; when it dies, everything dies. In dream, where there was nothing beforehand, mind by its own power produces the whole dream world, the enjoyer included. In the same way everything seen here in waking, produced by the mind, is only the mind’s play. Everyone knows that in sleep, when the mind has sunk away, nothing appears. So a person’s bondage to samsara is the mind’s own imagining; in truth there is no bondage. The wind brings clouds together in the sky and then drives them apart; a man ties a cow with a rope and later unties her. In the same way the mind, when it takes on rajas and tamas, grows impure, gives a person craving for the body and every other object, and so binds him; and when it follows pure sattva, free of rajas and tamas, it becomes clean through the dispassion that pushes those objects away like poison and through discrimination, and so becomes the means of liberation. So the wise seeker must first make discrimination and dispassion both firm. There is a great tiger named mind that roams for ever in the great forest of objects; good seekers should not go that way at all. It is mind that keeps showing the individual every object, gross and subtle, the differences of body, caste, stage of life and birth, qualities, actions, causes and results. This petty mind bewilders the unattached reality that is consciousness, binds it with the properties of body, senses and breath, and keeps it spinning in “I” and “mine” over the fruits of what it has done. Through the fault of superimposition it is the mind that invents a person’s false bondage, and for the undiscerning, clouded by rajas and tamas, it is the root cause of birth and every sorrow. As the wind whirls a mass of clouds, the mind whirls this whole world in delusion; that is why the learned who know reality call the mind itself ignorance. So the seeker must cleanse this mind by his own effort. Once it is clean, liberation is as near as a fruit in the palm of the hand. The one who, through the desire for liberation alone, pulls every other desire up by the roots, gives up all rites, and stays with trust and without a break in hearing and the disciplines that follow, puts an end to the restlessness of the mind. The mental sheath too has a beginning and an end, keeps changing, is full of sorrow and is a seen object; so it cannot be the Self, the supreme seer.
Word for word
Mind joined with the five organs of knowledge is the mental sheath. It causes distinctions of things as “mine” and “I,” has diverse modifications such as names, possesses great power, and fills and entirely pervades the vital sheath. Nourished by the five senses as five officiating priests, with sense-objects as ghee and latent tendencies as fuel sticks, the mental fire blazes and burns the entire universe, causing suffering. There is no ignorance apart from mind: mind itself is the ignorance causing bondage. When it grows, everything grows; when it perishes, everything perishes. In dream, without prior objects, mind produces the entire dream world, including the experiencer. Likewise, everything produced and seen through mind in waking is its display. Everyone experiences that nothing appears when mind subsides in deep sleep; therefore this bondage is mind-imagined, and in truth there is no bondage to becoming. As wind gathers and later disperses clouds, or a person ties and later unties a cow, mind can bring both bondage and release. Associated with rajas and tamas, it becomes impure, produces desire for body and other objects, and binds. Through pure sattva, discrimination and dispassion that discards objects as poison, it becomes pure and a means to liberation. The discerning seeker must therefore first firmly acquire discrimination and dispassion. The great tiger called mind always roams the forest of sense-objects; sincere seekers should not enter that path. For the individual, mind continually presents all gross and subtle objects, distinctions of body, varna, ashrama and birth-group, qualities, activities, causes and fruits. This petty mind deludes the unattached reality of consciousness, binds it with attributes of body, senses and vital force, and continually produces “I” and “mine” in experience of the fruits of its own actions. Through superimposition it imagines false bondage. For those lacking discrimination and affected by rajas and tamas, it is the root of birth and suffering. As wind drives clouds, mind makes the world revolve in delusion; hence knowers of reality call mind itself ignorance. The seeker must purify mind through personal effort. When it is pure, liberation becomes like fruit in the palm. One who desires liberation alone, uproots other desires, relinquishes all actions and remains devoted with trust to hearing and the ensuing disciplines removes mental restlessness. Since the mental sheath begins and ends, changes, involves suffering and is seen, it cannot be the supreme Self, the seer.