Chapter 4: Kaivalya Pada: the Seer stands alone

जन्मौषधिमन्त्रतपःसमाधिजाः सिद्धयः

janmauṣadhimantratapaḥsamādhijāḥ siddhayaḥ

Siddhis, powers, are born of birth, of herbs, of mantras, of tapas or of samadhi.

जात्यन्तरपरिणामः प्रकृत्यापूरात्

jātyantarapariṇāmaḥ prakṛtyāpūrāt

Change from one kind of being into another comes from the inflowing of prakriti, nature filling the new form.

निमित्तं अप्रयोजकं प्रकृतीनां वरणभेदस्तु ततः क्षेत्रिकवत्

nimittaṃ aprayojakaṃ prakṛtīnāṃ varaṇabhedastu tataḥ kṣetrikavat

Good or bad deeds do not move nature directly; they only remove the barriers, as a farmer breaks the ridge and lets the water flow into his field.

निर्माणचित्तान्यस्मितामात्रात्

nirmāṇacittānyasmitāmātrāt

Created minds, which a yogi forms for many bodies, arise from asmita, the sense of I, alone.

प्रवृत्तिभेदे प्रयोजकं चित्तं एकं अनेकेषां

pravṛttibhede prayojakaṃ cittaṃ ekaṃ anekeṣāṃ

Though their activities differ, the one original mind directs the many created minds.

तत्र ध्यानजं अनाशयं

tatra dhyānajaṃ anāśayaṃ

Of these, the mind born of meditation is free of stored impressions that would bind.

कर्माशुक्लाकृष्णं योगिनस् त्रिविधं इतरेषां

karmāśuklākṛṣṇaṃ yoginas trividhaṃ itareṣāṃ

The yogi's karma is neither white nor black; for others it is of three kinds, white, black and mixed.

ततस्तद्विपाकानुगुणानां एवाभिव्यक्तिर्वासनानां

tatastadvipākānuguṇānāṃ evābhivyaktirvāsanānāṃ

From these, only those vasanas, latent tendencies, become manifest which suit the ripening of that karma.

जातिदेशकालव्यवहितानां अप्यानन्तर्यं स्मृतिसंस्कारयोरेकरूपत्वात्

jātideśakālavyavahitānāṃ apyānantaryaṃ smṛtisaṃskārayorekarūpatvāt

Even when separated by birth, place and time, the tendencies follow in unbroken order, because memory and impressions are of one form.

तासां अनादित्वं चाशिषो नित्यत्वात्

tāsāṃ anāditvaṃ cāśiṣo nityatvāt

These tendencies have no beginning, since the desire to live is eternal.

हेतुफलाश्रयालम्बनैः संगृहीतत्वादेषां अभावे तदभावः

hetuphalāśrayālambanaiḥ saṃgṛhītatvādeṣāṃ abhāve tadabhāvaḥ

Being held together by cause, effect, support and object, the tendencies vanish when these vanish.

अतीतानागतं स्वरूपतोऽस्त्यध्वभेदाद्धर्माणां

atītānāgataṃ svarūpato'styadhvabhedāddharmāṇāṃ

Past and future exist in their own nature; the difference lies in the paths, the time-phases, of the properties.

ते व्यक्तसूक्ष्मा गुणात्मानः

te vyaktasūkṣmā guṇātmānaḥ

These properties, manifest or subtle, are made of the three gunas.

परिणामैकत्वाद्वस्तुतत्त्वं

pariṇāmaikatvādvastutattvaṃ

The reality of a thing lies in the oneness of its transformation, the gunas changing together as one.

वस्तुसाम्ये चित्तभेदात्तयोर्विभक्तः पन्थाः

vastusāmye cittabhedāttayorvibhaktaḥ panthāḥ

The object being the same, minds differ, so object and mind run on separate paths.

न चैकचित्ततन्त्रं वस्तु तदप्रमाणकं तदा किं स्यात्

na caikacittatantraṃ vastu tadapramāṇakaṃ tadā kiṃ syāt

An object does not depend on one mind; if it did, what would become of it when that mind was not perceiving it?

तदुपरागापेक्षत्वात् चित्तस्य वस्तु ज्ञाताज्ञातं

taduparāgāpekṣatvāt cittasya vastu jñātājñātaṃ

An object is known or unknown to the mind according to whether the mind is coloured by it.

सदा ज्ञाताश्चित्तवृत्तयस् तत्प्रभोः पुरुषस्यापरिणामित्वात्

sadā jñātāścittavṛttayas tatprabhoḥ puruṣasyāpariṇāmitvāt

The movements of the mind are always known to their lord, Purusha, because Purusha does not change.

न तत्स्वाभासं दृश्यत्वात्

na tatsvābhāsaṃ dṛśyatvāt

The mind is not self-luminous, because it is itself an object of seeing.

एकसमये चोभयानवधारणं

ekasamaye cobhayānavadhāraṇaṃ

Nor can the mind grasp both itself and its object in one and the same moment.

चित्तान्तरदृश्ये बुद्धिबुद्धेरतिप्रसङ्गः स्मृतिसंकरश्च

cittāntaradṛśye buddhibuddheratiprasaṅgaḥ smṛtisaṃkaraśca

If one mind were seen by another, there would be an endless chain of minds knowing minds, and a confusion of memories.

चितेरप्रतिसंक्रमायास्तदाकारापत्तौ स्वबुद्धिसंवेदनं

citerapratisaṃkramāyāstadākārāpattau svabuddhisaṃvedanaṃ

Consciousness, which does not move from place to place, knows its own buddhi when the mind takes on its form.

द्रष्टृदृश्योपरक्तं चित्तं सर्वार्थं

draṣṭṛdṛśyoparaktaṃ cittaṃ sarvārthaṃ

The mind, coloured by both the seer and the seen, can grasp every object.

तदसंख्येयवासनाचित्रं अपि परार्थं संहत्यकारित्वात्

tadasaṃkhyeyavāsanācitraṃ api parārthaṃ saṃhatyakāritvāt

Though painted with countless tendencies, the mind exists for another, Purusha, because it works only in combination.

विशेषदर्शिन आत्मभावभावनाविनिवृत्तिः

viśeṣadarśina ātmabhāvabhāvanāvinivṛttiḥ

For one who sees this distinction, the longing to brood on the nature of the self comes to an end.

तदा विवेकनिम्नं कैवल्यप्राग्भारं चित्तं

tadā vivekanimnaṃ kaivalyaprāgbhāraṃ cittaṃ

Then the mind bends towards discrimination and leans towards kaivalya.

तच्छिद्रेषु प्रत्ययान्तराणि संस्कारेभ्यः

tacchidreṣu pratyayāntarāṇi saṃskārebhyaḥ

In its gaps, other thoughts arise from old samskaras, stored impressions.

हानं एषां क्लेशवदुक्तं

hānaṃ eṣāṃ kleśavaduktaṃ

Their removal is as taught for the kleshas, the afflictions.

प्रसंख्यानेऽप्यकुसीदस्य सर्वथाविवेकख्यातेर्धर्ममेघः समाधिः

prasaṃkhyāne'pyakusīdasya sarvathāvivekakhyāterdharmameghaḥ samādhiḥ

One who seeks nothing even from the highest knowledge, and has unbroken discrimination, reaches dharmamegha samadhi, the cloud of dharma.

ततः क्लेशकर्मनिवृत्तिः

tataḥ kleśakarmanivṛttiḥ

From that, afflictions and karma come to an end.

तदा सर्वावरणमलापेतस्य ज्ञानस्यानन्त्याज्ज्ञेयं अल्पं

tadā sarvāvaraṇamalāpetasya jñānasyānantyājjñeyaṃ alpaṃ

Then, all covering and impurity removed, knowledge becomes infinite and what remains to be known is little.

ततः कृतार्थानां परिणामक्रमपरिसमाप्तिर् गुणानां

tataḥ kṛtārthānāṃ pariṇāmakramaparisamāptir guṇānāṃ

Then the gunas, their purpose fulfilled, end their sequence of transformations.

क्षणप्रतियोगी परिणामापरान्तनिर्ग्राह्यः क्रमः

kṣaṇapratiyogī pariṇāmāparāntanirgrāhyaḥ kramaḥ

Sequence is the series of moments, grasped only at the end of a transformation.

पुरुषार्थशून्यानां गुणानां प्रतिप्रसवः कैवल्यं स्वरूपप्रतिष्ठा वा चितिशक्तिर् इति

puruṣārthaśūnyānāṃ guṇānāṃ pratiprasavaḥ kaivalyaṃ svarūpapratiṣṭhā vā citiśaktir iti

Kaivalya is the return of the gunas to their source, empty of any purpose for Purusha; or it is the power of consciousness established in its own nature. Here the text ends.