12.204
gururuvāca॥
The teacher said.
caturvidhāni bhūtāni sthāvarāṇi carāṇi ca। avyaktaprabhavāny āhur avyaktanidhanāni ca ॥ avyaktanidhanaṃ vidyād avyaktātmātmakaṃ manaḥ ॥12-204-1॥
Beings are classified into four types: immobile and mobile. It is said that these beings originate from the unmanifest and dissolve into the unmanifest. One should understand that the mind, too, ends in the unmanifest and is of the nature of the unmanifest.
yathāśvattha-kaṇīkāyām antarbhūto mahādrumaḥ। niṣpanno dṛśyate vyaktam avyaktāt sambhavaḥ tathā॥12-204-2॥
Just as the great aśvattha tree is hidden within its seed and, when it grows, is seen to have arisen from the unmanifest, so too is the origin of things from the unmanifest.
abhidravatyayaskāntamayo niścetanāvubhau। svabhāvahetujā bhāvā yadvadanyadapīdṛśam ॥12-204-3॥
Just as both the magnet and the object made of magnet, though both insentient, rush toward each other due to their inherent nature, so too are other such states arising from their own inherent causes.
tadvadavyaktajā bhāvāḥ kartuḥ kāraṇalakṣaṇāḥ। acetanaścetayituḥ kāraṇādabhisaṃhitāḥ ॥12-204-4॥
Similarly, the entities that arise from the unmanifest, characterized by causality, belong to the doer; the unconscious ones are joined to the conscious one by the cause.
na bhūḥ khaṃ dyaur na bhūtāni na ṛṣayo na surāsurāḥ। nānyad āsīd ṛte jīvam āsedur na tu saṃhitam॥12-204-5॥
There was neither earth, nor sky, nor heaven, nor any beings, nor sages, nor gods or asuras; nothing else existed except for life; they did not attain union.
sarvanītyā sarvagataṃ manohetu salakṣaṇam। ajñānakarma nirdiṣṭametat kāraṇalakṣaṇam ॥12-204-6॥
According to all rules, that which is all-pervading, the cause of the mind, and possesses characteristics, is designated as the action of ignorance; this is described as having the characteristics of a cause.
tatkāraṇair hi saṁyuktaṁ kāryasaṅgrahakārakam। yenaitad vartate cakram anādinidhanaṁ mahat ॥12-204-7॥
That, indeed, united with causes, is the agent that gathers effects; by which this great wheel, without beginning or end, turns.
avyaktanābhaṃ vyaktāraṃ vikāraparimaṇḍalam। kṣetrajñādhiṣṭhitaṃ cakraṃ snigdhākṣaṃ vartate dhruvam ॥12-204-8॥
The wheel, whose hub is the unmanifest, whose spokes are the manifest, whose rim is the modifications, presided over by the knower of the field, and whose axle is well-oiled, revolves steadily.
snigdhattvāt tilavat sarvaṃ cakre'smin pīḍyate jagat। tilapīḍair ivākramya bhogair ajñānasambhavaiḥ ॥12-204-9॥
Because of its smoothness, the whole world in this wheel is pressed like sesame; just as sesame is pressed by presses, so too is the world seized by enjoyments arising from ignorance.
karma tat kurute tarṣād ahaṅkāra-parigraham। kārya-kāraṇa-saṃyoge sa hetur upapāditaḥ ॥12-204-10॥
Action is performed out of desire, ego, and appropriation; in the conjunction of effect and cause, he is established as the cause.
nātyeti kāraṇaṃ kāryaṃ na kāryaṃ kāraṇaṃ tathā। kāryāṇāṃ tūpakaraṇe kālo bhavati hetumān ॥12-204-11॥
The cause does not surpass the effect, nor is the effect itself the cause; but in the context of the instruments of actions, time is endowed with causality.
hetuyuktāḥ prakṛtayo vikārāś ca parasparam। anyonyam abhivartante puruṣādhiṣṭhitāḥ sadā ॥12-204-12॥
The primordial natures and their modifications, endowed with causes, always interact with one another under the supervision of the puruṣa.
sarajas-tāmasair bhāvaiś cyuto hetubala-anvitaḥ। kṣetrajñam eva anuyāti pāṃsuḥ vāta-iritaḥ yathā॥ na ca taiḥ spṛśyate bhāvaḥ na te tena mahātmanā॥12-204-13॥
Just as dust, moved by the wind, follows only the knower of the field (the soul) when fallen under the influence of rajas and tamas and endowed with the force of causes, so too the state is not touched by those qualities, nor are those qualities touched by that great soul.
sarajasko'rajaskaś ca sa vai vāyur yathā bhavet। tathaitad antaraṃ vidyāt kṣetra-kṣetrajñayor budhaḥ॥ abhyāsāt sa tathā yukto na gacchet prakṛtiṃ punaḥ॥12-204-14॥
Just as wind may be with or without dust, so should the wise know the difference between the field and the knower of the field. Through practice, one so engaged does not return to nature again.
saṃdeham etam utpannam acchinat bhagavān ṛṣiḥ। tathā vārtāṃ samīkṣeta kṛtalakṣaṇa-saṃmitām ॥12-204-15॥
The revered sage dispelled this doubt that had arisen. In this way, one should examine news that is characterized by established and measured qualities.
bījāny agny-upadagdhāni na rohanti yathā punaḥ। jñānadagdhais tathā kleśair nātmā sambadhyate punaḥ॥12-204-16॥
Just as seeds that have been burnt by fire do not sprout again, so too, when the self is burnt by knowledge, it is not bound again by afflictions.
