Prose-section 43
In plain words
Take away the pot, the grain bin and the needle’s eye that seem to divide it, and space is one. When the mistake ends, the snake imagined on the rope is found to be nothing other than the rope. Waves, foam, bubbles and eddies look separate in water, yet looked into they are all water. Pots, jars and pitchers of every kind are not separate from clay; they are that clay. In the same way the Self, Brahman in nature, pure being, awareness and bliss, shines one and complete like open space, without any of the separate conditions, body, senses, breath, mind and ego, that one’s own ignorance imagined. In it, people drunk on the wine of māyā see many things and babble ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘that’. The body and ego that error imagined, and the whole seen world from the creator Brahmā down to a tuft of grass, known through mind and speech and entirely false, are not other than that Self; they are that Self of being, other than nature. So you yourself, the supreme Self, awareness of a single, undivided taste, are everywhere, east and west, south and north, within and without, above and below; and you are Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Indra, the gods, human beings and all the rest. Why say more? To remove the false superimposition, scripture itself says ‘there is no duality’ and ‘Brahman is one only, without a second’. So the Lord, the individual souls and the world down to the smallest atom are Brahman alone. You too are that Brahman without a second: clean like space, with no outside or inside, without distinctions, unchanging, unmoving, without limit, undivided. What is left to know? Scripture also says that as long as a person takes this corpse of a body as ‘I’, he is impure and the home of birth, death, disease and every kind of sorrow, but when he puts away everything that error imposed on him and knows himself as utterly pure, unmoving auspiciousness, he himself is freed as the actionless, complete, non-dual supreme Brahman. And those who have reached the great knowledge ‘Brahman alone am I’ truly give up everything outer and shine as Brahman, being, awareness and bliss of one taste. So you too give up taking as ‘I’ this filthy gross body and the subtle body that moves like the wind, and practise without tiring the knowing ‘I am the eternal bliss the Vedas praise’. Remain always as that Brahman.
Word for word
Space is one when distinct adjuncts such as pot, granary and needle are removed. When error ends, a thing imagined upon another is not other than its ground but is that alone, as with the snake in a rope. Waves, foam, bubbles, eddies and the rest, appearing distinct in water, are on enquiry all water alone. Vessels of various kinds are not distinct from clay but are that clay alone. Similarly, the pure Self, Brahman in nature, existence-consciousness-bliss, shines one and complete like great space, free of distinct adjuncts—body, senses, vital breath, mind and ego—imagined through ignorance of oneself. Within it, ignorant people intoxicated by the wine of māyā see multiplicity and babble ‘I’, ‘you’, ‘that’. The body through ego imagined through error, and the whole perceived world from Brahmā to a clump of grass, known through mind and speech and wholly mithyā, are not other than that Self. They are that existence-Self alone, distinct from prakṛti. Therefore oneself, the supreme Self, indivisible consciousness of one essence, is everywhere: east, west, south, north, inward, outward, above and below. It is also Brahmā, Viṣṇu, Śiva, Indra, gods, humans and everything else. Why say more? To remove false superimposition, revelation itself declares ‘There is no duality’ and ‘Brahman is one alone, without a second’. Therefore Lord, individuals and the world down to the smallest atom are Brahman alone. Oneself too is non-dual Brahman: pure like space, without outside or inside, undifferentiated, changeless, motionless, limitless and undivided. What remains to be known? Revelation also declares that as long as a person takes the corpse-like body as ‘I’, he is impure and the seat of many sufferings such as birth, death and disease; but when he sets aside all things appearing through error as superimposed upon himself and knows himself as exceedingly pure, motionless auspiciousness, he is liberated as actionless, complete, non-dual supreme Brahman. Moreover, those who have attained the great knowledge ‘Brahman alone am I’ truly relinquish outwardness and shine as Brahman of the single essence of existence-consciousness-bliss. You too should abandon Self-identification as ‘I’ in the impure gross body and in the subtle body moving like wind. Practise without weariness the recognition ‘I am the nature of eternal bliss praised by the Vedas’, and always remain as that Brahman.