Prose-section 30
In plain words
Pots and everything else that comes from clay, and is made of clay, are clay alone. In the same way this whole world, which comes from Brahman, whose nature is being, and is made of Brahman, is Brahman alone. In a dream, the places, times, objects, knowers and everything else that sleep conjures up are unreal; in the same way, here in waking, the world of body, senses, breath, ego and the rest, conjured up by your ignorance of yourself and appearing as something other, is pure falsehood. So the supremely peaceful, stainless, non-dual Brahman, which is real and is the Self, with nothing other than itself: you are truly That. Tat tvam asi. It has none of the six changes that begin with birth; no caste, code of conduct, family, lineage, name, form, mark or quality, virtue or defect, affliction of mind or disease of body; none of the six waves, hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, old age and death; no place, time or object. It is not known by any words, yet it is known by the eye of knowledge. The hearts of yogis hold it, and no other faculty reaches it; it is hard for a coarse mind to know. It is the support of itself and of the false world that error has imagined, and the ground of the world’s arising, lasting and ending. It is the supreme cause of this whole manifold world of effects, with no other cause for itself, and yet it is other than cause and effect, other than being and non-being. It is the supreme Imperishable, beyond the perishable, which is what maya makes, and beyond the imperishable, which is maya. Through error it appears, like gold, as differences of name, form, quality and change, yet it has no name, form, quality, change or difference. It is still, like a waveless ocean: eternal, without parts, stainless, beyond compare, undivided, ever free, undecaying, beginningless, pure, beyond the highest, inward, unbroken, complete, true, dense with knowledge, limitless, of the one taste of bliss. That Brahman, you truly are That. Tat tvam asi. With reasoning and a subtle mind, contemplate this meaning always in the Heart, without separation and without wavering. Then the knowledge of reality will be as free of doubt as water held in the palm of your hand. As you would pick out the king in the middle of his army, pick out the Self, which is Brahman, consciousness alone amid the crowd of body and the rest, and know it. Everything seen that appears as other than it, dissolve into that very thing. By remaining always as that Self, you will be full of bliss and at rest.
Word for word
Just as all pots and other things arising from clay and consisting of clay are only clay, this whole world, arising in Brahman whose nature is existence and consisting of Brahman, is Brahman alone. Just as all places, times, objects, knowers and so forth imagined through sleep in a dream are unreal, so in waking the world of body, instruments, vital breath, ego and the rest, imagined through ignorance of oneself and appearing separate, is wholly mithyā. Therefore that supremely peaceful, stainless, non-dual Brahman which is reality and the Self, with nothing other than itself—you truly are that: tat tvam asi. That Brahman is without the six modifications beginning with birth; class, conduct, family, lineage, name, form, characteristic, quality, virtue, defect, mental affliction or bodily disease; the six waves of hunger, thirst, grief, delusion, ageing and death; and place, time, object and so forth. It cannot be known by any words, but is known through the eye of knowledge. It is contemplated in the hearts of yogins, not apprehended by other instruments, and is difficult for a gross intellect to know. It is itself the support of itself and of the unreal world imagined through error, and the ground of the world’s creation, preservation and destruction. Though the supreme cause of the whole manifold world of effects, with no other cause of itself, it is distinct from cause and effect, from being and non-being. It is the supreme imperishable beyond the perishable—māyā’s effects—and the imperishable—māyā. Though through error it appears, like gold, as distinctions of name, form, quality and modification, it is nameless, formless, qualityless, changeless and without distinction. Motionless like a waveless ocean, it is eternal, partless, stainless, incomparable, undifferentiated, ever free, undecaying, beginningless, pure, beyond the highest, inward, indivisible and complete: reality, dense consciousness, limitless, of the single essence of bliss. That Brahman—you truly are that: tat tvam asi. With reasoning and a subtle intellect, always contemplate this meaning in the Heart, without separation and without movement. Knowledge of reality will then be beyond doubt, like water in the palm. Discern the Self whose nature is Brahman, consciousness alone amidst the aggregates of body and the rest, as a king is discerned amidst an assembled army. Resolve all perceived things appearing other than it into that reality itself. By always remaining as that Self, become blissful and peaceful.