Mantra 20

In plain words

Suppose this really is the Self's own nature: entirely empty of every property that belongs to a life caught in transmigration, and whatever makes it seem otherwise comes only from some alien conditioning pinned onto it. And the thing responsible for pinning those transmigratory properties onto it — that is nescience, avidyā. So the question has to be put plainly: is this avidyā simply built into the Self, or does it merely arrive, the way desire and action arrive? Because if it merely arrives, freedom becomes possible after all. But what grounds are there for calling it a mere arrival — and, for that matter, why isn't it simply a property of the Self? To settle, once and for all, what this avidyā really is, the seed from which every evil grows, the next section now begins.

These are called his hitā channels — this person shaped like a head, hands, and everything else — fine as a hair split into a thousand strands, and just as fine, just as hard to grasp. What more is there to say: whatever elephant-shaped fear he has ever seen while awake, that very same fear, right here in this dream, with no actual elephant anywhere near him, he simply imagines out of the impression nescience has left behind — nothing but illusion. Now once more: as nescience keeps receding and knowledge keeps growing, what is that knowledge about, and what does it look like? Here is the answer. Once more: there comes a moment when he feels like a god himself — when knowledge of a deity, gathered while awake, has arisen, then, carried by that very impression, he imagines himself to be god-like. The same thing happens in dream: like a god, like a king enthroned and anointed, in dream too he thinks 'I am a king,' soaked through with the impression of kingship. And in just this way, once nescience has nearly worn away completely and knowledge of the Self of everything has arisen, then, even in dream, steeped in that very state, he thinks, 'I alone am all this.' That state of being everything — that is this Self's highest world, its supreme and utterly natural condition. But whatever is seen as other than oneself, even by a hair's breadth, short of that state of being everything — the thought 'I am not that' — that condition is nescience, plain and simple. The worlds of separateness nescience puts in front of him are never the highest; they run all the way down to the merely stationary. Set against those ordinary, everyday worlds, this state of being everything — whole, with nothing inside it and nothing outside it — is his highest world. So once nescience is receding and knowledge has reached its very limit, this state of being everything is liberation — exactly as self-luminosity is directly felt in dream...

Close to the Sanskrit

If this is the Self's own nature — utter emptiness of every property of transmigratory existence — and its having the properties of transmigratory existence is caused by an alien conditioning adjunct; and that by which its having transmigratory properties is brought about by an alien conditioning adjunct is nescience — then, of that nescience, is it natural, or, like desire and action and so on, is it adventitious? And if it is adventitious, then liberation becomes possible. But of its being adventitious, what is the justification, or how is nescience not a property of the Self? — In order to ascertain the true nature of this nescience, which is the seed of every evil, the next section now begins.

These, indeed, are the channels called hitā belonging to this person characterized by head, hands, and so on, as fine as a hair split a thousandfold, being, to that same degree, of the nature of suffering. What need of much talk: whatever fear characterized by an elephant and the like one sees while awake, that same fear-form, here, in this dream, even without any actual elephant-form at all, is imagined as fear that has arisen falsely indeed, through an impression left by nescience. Now again: where nescience is receding and knowledge is increasing — of what object, and of what character, is now stated. Now again: where, at which time, he himself becomes like a god — when knowledge whose object is a deity has arisen in the waking state, then, through the impression that has arisen from that, he imagines himself, the Self, as like a god. In dream too, this is said: like a god, like a king established in the kingdom, anointed; in dream too he thinks 'I am a king,' impregnated with the impression of kingship. Thus, when nescience is being utterly diminished, and knowledge whose object is the Self of all has arisen, then, even in dream, pervaded by that state, he thinks 'I alone am all this.' That which is the state of being all — that is this Self's highest world, the highest state of the Self, its natural state. But that which, short of the state of being all, is seen as other even to the extent of a hair's tip — the thought 'I am not that' — that state is nescience. The worlds of non-Self-hood presented by that nescience are not supreme, ending with the stationary. Measured against those worlds which are the objects of ordinary transaction, this state of being all — entire, without interior, without exterior — is his highest world. Therefore, when nescience is receding and knowledge has reached its culmination, the state of being all is liberation, just as self-luminosity is directly apprehended in dream...

In plain words

Once that experience of being everything dawns, nescience departs completely — the way the very notion of a snake disappears the instant you become certain it was only ever a rope. And this is exactly what has been said elsewhere: 'But when for him everything has become nothing but the Self, then what could he see, and by what, and whom?' and so on. So nescience is not a property of the Self at all. Because whatever truly belongs to a thing by its own nature can never be destroyed, not at any time — no more than heat and light can ever be taken from the sun. And that is exactly why freedom from it is possible.

Close to the Sanskrit

When that state occurs, it departs altogether, just as the notion of a snake departs with respect to a rope, when certainty about the rope arises. And this has been said: 'But when for him everything has become the very Self, then by what, and whom, would he see?' and so on. Therefore nescience is not a property of the Self. For the destruction of what is natural is never possible at any time whatsoever — as with heat and light in the case of the sun. Therefore its liberation follows.