Chapter 5: Knowledge, ignorance and the subtle soul

द्वे अक्षरे ब्रह्मपरे त्वनन्ते विद्याविद्ये निहिते यत्र गूढे ।
क्षरं त्वविद्यां ह्यमृतं तु विद्या विद्याविद्ये ईशते यस्तु सोऽन्यः

dve akṣare brahmapare tvanante vidyāvidye nihite yatra gūḍhe |
kṣaraṃ tvavidyāṃ hyamṛtaṃ tu vidyā vidyāvidye īśate yastu so'nyaḥ

In the imperishable, infinite supreme Brahman two things lie hidden, knowledge and ignorance. Ignorance is perishable; knowledge is immortal. He who rules over both knowledge and ignorance is other than them.

यो योनिं योनिमधितिष्ठत्येको विश्वानि रूपाणि योनीश्च सर्वाः ।
ऋषिं प्रसूतं कपिलं यस्तमग्रे ज्ञानैर्बिभर्ति जायमानं च पश्येत्

yo yoniṃ yonimadhitiṣṭhatyeko viśvāni rūpāṇi yonīśca sarvāḥ |
ṛṣiṃ prasūtaṃ kapilaṃ yastamagre jñānairbibharti jāyamānaṃ ca paśyet

He alone presides over every source, over all forms and all wombs. In the beginning He filled the first-born seer, Kapila, with knowledge, and watched him as he came to birth.

एकैकं जालं बहुधा विकुर्वन्नस्मिन्क्षेत्रे संहरत्येष देवः ।
भूयः सृष्ट्वा पतयस्तथेशः सर्वाधिपत्यं कुरुते महात्मा

ekaikaṃ jālaṃ bahudhā vikurvannasminkṣetre saṃharatyeṣa devaḥ |
bhūyaḥ sṛṣṭvā patayastatheśaḥ sarvādhipatyaṃ kurute mahātmā

Spreading out each net in many ways, this God draws it back into this field. Creating again the lords of beings, the great Self, the Lord, exercises sovereignty over all.

सर्वा दिश ऊर्ध्वमधश्च तिर्यक्प्रकाशयन्भ्राजते यद्वनड्वान् ।
एवं स देवो भगवान्वरेण्यो योनिस्वभावानधितिष्ठत्येकः

sarvā diśa ūrdhvamadhaśca tiryakprakāśayanbhrājate yadvanaḍvān |
evaṃ sa devo bhagavānvareṇyo yonisvabhāvānadhitiṣṭhatyekaḥ

As the sun shines, lighting every quarter, above, below and across, so this one God, Bhagavan, the adorable, rules over all that is born of a source and all natures.

यच्च स्वभावं पचति विश्वयोनिः पाच्यांश्च सर्वान् परिणामयेद्यः ।
सर्वमेतद्विश्वमधितिष्ठत्येको गुणांश्च सर्वान्विनियोजयेद्यः

yacca svabhāvaṃ pacati viśvayoniḥ pācyāṃśca sarvān pariṇāmayedyaḥ |
sarvametadviśvamadhitiṣṭhatyeko guṇāṃśca sarvānviniyojayedyaḥ

The source of all ripens each thing according to its nature and brings to full growth all that can ripen. He alone presides over this whole universe and assigns all the gunas their work.

तद्वेदगुह्योपनिषत्सु गूढं तद्ब्रह्मा वेदते ब्रह्मयोनिम् ।
ये पूर्वं देवा ऋषयश्च तद्विदुस्ते तन्मया अमृता वै बभूवुः

tadvedaguhyopaniṣatsu gūḍhaṃ tadbrahmā vedate brahmayonim |
ye pūrvaṃ devā ṛṣayaśca tadviduste tanmayā amṛtā vai babhūvuḥ

That is hidden in the Upanishads, the secret heart of the Vedas. Brahma knows it as the source of the Veda. The gods and seers of old who knew it became one with it and were immortal.

गुणान्वयो यः फलकर्मकर्ता कृतस्य तस्यैव स चोपभोक्ता ।
स विश्वरूपस्त्रिगुणस्त्रिवर्त्मा प्राणाधिपः सञ्चरति स्वकर्मभिः

guṇānvayo yaḥ phalakarmakartā kṛtasya tasyaiva sa copabhoktā |
sa viśvarūpastriguṇastrivartmā prāṇādhipaḥ sañcarati svakarmabhiḥ

The one bound by the gunas does deeds for their fruits and himself reaps what he has done. Taking every form, made of the three gunas, following three paths, the lord of the pranas wanders according to his own deeds.

अङ्गुष्ठमात्रो रवितुल्यरूपः सङ्कल्पाहङ्कारसमन्वितो यः ।
बुद्धेर्गुणेनात्मगुणेन चैव आराग्रमात्रोऽप्यपरोऽपि दृष्टः

aṅguṣṭhamātro ravitulyarūpaḥ saṅkalpāhaṅkārasamanvito yaḥ |
buddherguṇenātmaguṇena caiva ārāgramātro'pyaparo'pi dṛṣṭaḥ

The size of a thumb, bright as the sun, joined with will and ego; by the qualities of intellect and of the body he is seen as another, as small as the point of an awl.

बालाग्रशतभागस्य शतधा कल्पितस्य च ।
भागो जीवः स विज्ञेयः स चानन्त्याय कल्पते

bālāgraśatabhāgasya śatadhā kalpitasya ca |
bhāgo jīvaḥ sa vijñeyaḥ sa cānantyāya kalpate

Divide the tip of a hair into a hundred parts, and one of those again into a hundred: the individual self is to be known as that small. Yet it is fit for infinity.

नैव स्त्री न पुमानेष न चैवायं नपुंसकः ।
यद्यच्छरीरमादत्ते तेन तेन स युज्यते

naiva strī na pumāneṣa na caivāyaṃ napuṃsakaḥ |
yadyaccharīramādatte tena tena sa yujyate

It is neither woman nor man, nor is it neither. Whatever body it takes, with that it becomes identified.

सङ्कल्पनस्पर्शनदृष्टिमोहैर्ग्रासांबुवृष्ट्यात्मविवृद्धिजन्म ।
कर्मानुगान्यनुक्रमेण देही स्थानेषु रूपाण्यभिसम्प्रपद्यते

saṅkalpanasparśanadṛṣṭimohairgrāsāṃbuvṛṣṭyātmavivṛddhijanma |
karmānugānyanukrameṇa dehī sthāneṣu rūpāṇyabhisamprapadyate

As the body grows by food, drink and rain, so the embodied one, by thought, touch, sight and delusion, takes on forms in many places one after another, in keeping with his deeds.

स्थूलानि सूक्ष्माणि बहूनि चैव रूपाणि देही स्वगुणैर्वृणोति ।
क्रियागुणैरात्मगुणैश्च तेषां संयोगहेतुरपरोऽपि दृष्टः

sthūlāni sūkṣmāṇi bahūni caiva rūpāṇi dehī svaguṇairvṛṇoti |
kriyāguṇairātmaguṇaiśca teṣāṃ saṃyogaheturaparo'pi dṛṣṭaḥ

The embodied one chooses many forms, gross and subtle, by his own qualities. By the qualities of his acts and of his mind, another cause of their union is also seen.

अनाद्यनन्तं कलिलस्य मध्ये विश्वस्य स्रष्टारमनेकरूपम् ।
विश्वस्यैकं परिवेष्टितारं ज्ञात्वा देवं मुच्यते सर्वपाशैः

anādyanantaṃ kalilasya madhye viśvasya sraṣṭāramanekarūpam |
viśvasyaikaṃ pariveṣṭitāraṃ jñātvā devaṃ mucyate sarvapāśaiḥ

Without beginning or end, in the midst of chaos, the creator of all in many forms, the One who encompasses the universe: knowing that God, one is freed from every bond.

भावग्राह्यमनीडाख्यं भावाभावकरं शिवम् ।
कलासर्गकरं देवं ये विदुस्ते जहुस्तनुम्

bhāvagrāhyamanīḍākhyaṃ bhāvābhāvakaraṃ śivam |
kalāsargakaraṃ devaṃ ye viduste jahustanum

He is grasped by pure feeling, called the bodiless; He makes being and non-being; He is Shiva, the auspicious, maker of all the parts of creation. Those who know that God leave the body behind for ever.