Prose-section 47
In plain words
He never sees a difference between Self and Brahman, or between world and Brahman. By the strength of scripture he has known ‘I myself am Brahman’ and come to the single sense of the pure oneness of Brahman and Self. He sets his awareness, the steady current of pure consciousness without distinctions, firmly on Brahman, the way an unfaithful woman keeps her mind on her lover, and his mind is absorbed there. Remaining always in the form of Brahman, he lets outer things fall away; like a sleeper or a child he knows of enjoyments and things to enjoy only because others tell him. He is actionless and unchanging, always tasting bliss. His mind seems so absorbed that he has forgotten the world, yet he is always awake, and without the traits of waking. Toward the body that follows him like a shadow, the senses and all other things he has no ‘I’ and no ‘mine’; he is unconcerned, discerning, free of the faults of saṃsāra and of any leaning toward objects. He has a mind and yet no worry; he has parts and yet is partless. He does not think of things gone or to come, and he neither likes nor dislikes what comes to him now. His mind so taken up with the taste of Brahman’s bliss that he is aware of nothing outer or inner, he stays even and unchanged, by the strength of knowledge, among the pairs: good qualities and faults, what is wanted and what is not, honour from the good and insult from the wicked. Whatever reaches him merges into him without stirring him, as rivers merge into the sea. Such a wise renunciant, free of bondage, is the one of steady wisdom, free while living. He enjoys the fruit of boundless merit and is worthy of worship. Since knowing reality as one has destroyed every tendency in him, it must not be said that the force of old tendencies brings saṃsāra back for him. Even the most lustful man’s mind does not go that way toward his mother; in the same way, for one who knows the bliss of complete Brahman the seen world of saṃsāra is simply not there as before. If it were, he would be one turned outward, not a knower of Brahman.
Word for word
The knowing renunciant has no conception of difference between Self and Brahman or world and Brahman. Through revelation’s authority he knows himself as Brahman and attains the pure single recognition of Brahman-Self identity. He fixes prajñā—the undifferentiated modification consisting solely of consciousness—firmly in Brahman, as an unfaithful woman fixes attention on her lover. His mind is absorbed there; always remaining as Brahman, outward objects fall away. Like sleepers and children, he is made aware of enjoyments and their objects by others. He is actionless, changeless and constantly experiences bliss. Though his mind is absorbed as if he had forgotten the world, he is always alert, yet without the attributes of waking. Towards the body following like a shadow, the senses and other things, he is unconcerned, without ‘I’ and ‘mine’. He discriminates, free of saṃsāra’s defects and dispositions towards objects. Though possessing mind, he is without anxious thought; though associated with parts, he is partless. He does not think of objects past or future and has no liking or dislike towards what arrives in the present. His mind devoted to the experience of Brahman-bliss, he has no cognition of outward or inward objects. Through knowledge’s strength he remains equal and unchanged amid opposites: qualities and defects, desirable and undesirable things, honour from the good and insult from the wicked. Objects reaching him subside in his own nature without producing change, like river currents entering the ocean. Such a knowing renunciant is the liberated-in-life one of steady wisdom, free of worldly bondage. He enjoys the fruit of boundless merit and is worthy of reverence. Since knowledge of reality’s oneness has destroyed all dispositions, one should not say that former dispositions still produce saṃsāra for him. Even the mind of a very lustful person does not turn towards his mother in that way. Similarly, for one experiencing complete Brahman-bliss, perceived saṃsāra is no longer as before. If it were, he would be outward-turned, not a knower of Brahman.