The Subtle Self Freed from the Body

Verse 1 (12.259.1)

शरीराद्विप्रमुक्तं हि सूक्ष्मभूतं शरीरिणम् । कर्मभिः परिपश्यन्ति शास्त्रोक्तैः शास्त्रचेतसः ॥

śarīrādvipramuktaṃ hi sūkṣmabhūtaṃ śarīriṇam | karmabhiḥ paripaśyanti śāstroktaiḥ śāstracetasaḥ

The embodied one, freed from the body and subtle in nature, is perceived by those whose minds are set on the scriptures, through the deeds the scriptures prescribe.

Verse 2 (12.259.2)

यथा मरीच्यः सहिताश्चरन्ति गच्छन्ति तिष्ठन्ति च दृश्यमानाः । देहैर्विमुक्तानि विचरन्ति लोकांस्तथैव सत्वान्यतिमानुषाणि ॥

yathā marīcyaḥ sahitāścaranti gacchanti tiṣṭhanti ca dṛśyamānāḥ | dehairvimuktāni vicaranti lokāṃstathaiva satvānyatimānuṣāṇi

As rays of light move together, seen going and standing, so too beings who surpass the human, freed from their bodies, wander through the worlds.

Note on the text: Corrected वरन्ति → विचरन्ति (misprint in Wikisource; वरन्ति is not a word in context, the critical edition reads vicaranti). Wikisource prints this verse as four pādas on four lines (labelled 2a–2d) with the sandhi cut across them (लोकां / स्तथैव); rejoined here as the two half-verse lines of the critical edition, with लोकां स्तथैव written लोकांस्तथैव.

Verse 3 (12.259.3)

प्रतिरूपं यथैवाप्सु तावत्सूर्यस्य लक्ष्यते । सत्ववांस्तु तथा सत्वं प्रतिरूपं स पश्यति ॥

pratirūpaṃ yathaivāpsu tāvatsūryasya lakṣyate | satvavāṃstu tathā satvaṃ pratirūpaṃ sa paśyati

As only so much of the sun as its reflection is seen in water, so the man of sattva sees that being as a reflection.

Note on the text: Line 1 तावत्सूर्यस्य is kept as printed (a valid word and a recension reading); the critical edition reads tāpaḥ sūryasya.

Verse 4 (12.259.4)

तानि सूक्ष्माणि सत्वानि विमुक्तानि शरीरतः । तेन तत्वेन तत्वज्ञाः पश्यन्ति नियतेन्द्रियाः ॥

tāni sūkṣmāṇi satvāni vimuktāni śarīrataḥ | tena tatvena tatvajñāḥ paśyanti niyatendriyāḥ

Those who know the truth, with their senses restrained, see those subtle beings, freed from the body, by that very truth.

Verse 5 (12.259.5)

स्वपतां जाग्रतां चैष सर्वेषामात्मचिन्तितम् । प्रधानद्वैधयुक्तानां दह्यते कर्मजं रजः ॥

svapatāṃ jāgratāṃ caiṣa sarveṣāmātmacintitam | pradhānadvaidhayuktānāṃ dahyate karmajaṃ rajaḥ

For all, whether asleep or awake, this is what the Self has thought out: in those joined to the twofold division of the Pradhana, the dust of passion born of action is burnt away.

Note on the text: Corrected प्रधानाद्वैधयुक्तानां → प्रधानद्वैधयुक्तानां (misprint in Wikisource; a stray ā, the critical edition reads pradhānadvaidhayuktānām). Line 2 दह्यते against CE jahatām is a recension variant.

Verse 6 (12.259.6)

यथाऽहनि तथा रात्रौ यथा रात्रौ तथाऽहनि । वशे तिष्ठति सत्वात्मा सततं योगयोगिनाम् ॥

yathā'hani tathā rātrau yathā rātrau tathā'hani | vaśe tiṣṭhati satvātmā satataṃ yogayoginām

As by day, so by night; as by night, so by day: the sattva-self stays always under the control of those who are yogis in yoga.

Verse 7 (12.259.7)

तेषां नित्यं सदा नित्यो भूतात्मा सततं गुणैः । सप्तभिस्त्वन्वितः सूक्ष्मैश्चरिष्णुरजरामरः ॥

teṣāṃ nityaṃ sadā nityo bhūtātmā satataṃ guṇaiḥ | saptabhistvanvitaḥ sūkṣmaiścariṣṇurajarāmaraḥ

For them the elemental self is ever and always eternal; joined constantly to seven subtle qualities, it moves about, free from age and death.

Verse 8 (12.259.8)

मनोबुद्धिपराभूतः स्वदेहपरदेहवित् । स्वप्नेष्वपि भवत्येष विज्ञाता सुखदुःखयोः ॥

manobuddhiparābhūtaḥ svadehaparadehavit | svapneṣvapi bhavatyeṣa vijñātā sukhaduḥkhayoḥ

Overcome by mind and intellect, he knows his own body and the bodies of others; even in dreams this one becomes the knower of pleasure and pain.

Note on the text: Corrected मनोवुद्धि → मनोबुद्धि (misprint in Wikisource; व for ब, the critical edition reads manobuddhi).

Verse 9 (12.259.9)

तत्रापि लभते दुःखं तत्रापि लभते सुखम् । कामं क्रोधं च तत्रापि कृत्वा व्यसनमृच्छति ॥

tatrāpi labhate duḥkhaṃ tatrāpi labhate sukham | kāmaṃ krodhaṃ ca tatrāpi kṛtvā vyasanamṛcchati

There too he meets sorrow, and there too he finds joy; there too, giving way to desire and anger, he comes to grief.

Verse 10 (12.259.10)

प्रीणितश्चापि भवति महतोऽर्थानवाप्य हि । करोति पुण्यं तत्रापि जाग्रन्निव च पश्यति ॥

prīṇitaścāpi bhavati mahato'rthānavāpya hi | karoti puṇyaṃ tatrāpi jāgranniva ca paśyati

He is gladdened too when he wins great wealth; there too he performs meritorious acts, and he sees as though awake.

Verse 11 (12.259.11)

सदोष्मान्तर्गतश्चापि गर्भत्वं समुपेयिवान् । दश मासान्वसन्कुक्षौ नैषोऽन्नमिव जीर्यते ॥

sadoṣmāntargataścāpi garbhatvaṃ samupeyivān | daśa māsānvasankukṣau naiṣo'nnamiva jīryate

Always lodged within warmth, he too entered the state of an embryo; though he dwelt ten months in the womb, he is not digested like food.

Note on the text: Not in the critical edition's constituted text (found in the vulgate recension); the CE records it as the star passage 12.245.10d*0695_01–02 (mahoṣmāntargataś cāpi garbhatvaṃ samupeyivān / daśa māsān vasan kukṣau naiṣo 'nnam iva jīryate); Wikisource's सदोष्मा- differs from CE mahoṣmā- in the first word.

Verse 12 (12.259.12)

तमेतमतितेजोंशं भूतात्मानं हृदि स्थितम् । तमोरजोभ्यामाविष्टा नानुपश्यन्ति मूर्तिषु ॥

tametamatitejoṃśaṃ bhūtātmānaṃ hṛdi sthitam | tamorajobhyāmāviṣṭā nānupaśyanti mūrtiṣu

That very part of surpassing radiance, the elemental self that abides in the heart, is not perceived in bodily forms by those possessed by darkness and passion.

Verse 13 (12.259.13)

योगशास्त्रपरा भूत्वा स्वमात्मानं परीप्सवः । तमोरजोभ्यां निर्मुक्तास्तं प्रपश्यन्ति मूर्तिषु । अनुच्छ्वासान्यमूर्तानि यानि वज्रोपमान्यपि ॥

yogaśāstraparā bhūtvā svamātmānaṃ parīpsavaḥ | tamorajobhyāṃ nirmuktāstaṃ prapaśyanti mūrtiṣu | anucchvāsānyamūrtāni yāni vajropamānyapi

Devoted to the science of yoga and longing to reach their own Self, freed from darkness and passion, they see it in bodily forms: those subtle entities that are breathless and formless, though as hard as the thunderbolt.

Note on the text: Removed the backtick and closing quote mark Wikisource prints around line 2, and the doubled daṇḍa inside them. Three-line verse, as on the page (labelled 12-259-13a/b/c): lines 1 and 3 = CE 12.245.12a and 12c (line 1 योगशास्त्रपरा against CE śāstrayogaparā; line 3 अनुच्छ्वासान्यमूर्तानि against CE anucchvāsāny amūrtīni); line 2 is not in the critical edition (found in the vulgate recension).

Verse 14 (12.259.14)

पृथग्भूतेषु सृष्टेषु चतुर्ष्वाश्रमकर्मसु । समाधौ योगमेवैतच्छाण्डिल्यः सममब्रवीत् ॥

pṛthagbhūteṣu sṛṣṭeṣu caturṣvāśramakarmasu | samādhau yogamevaitacchāṇḍilyaḥ samamabravīt

When the duties of the four orders of life stood created apart and distinct, Shandilya declared this yoga alone, as practised in concentration, to be the same for all.

Note on the text: Line 2 सममब्रवीत् is kept as printed (समम् is a valid word and a recension reading); the critical edition reads śamam abravīt.

Verse 15 (12.259.15)

विदित्वा सप्तसूक्ष्माणि षडङ्गं च महेश्वरम् । प्रधानविनियोगज्ञः परं ब्रह्मानुपश्यति ॥

viditvā saptasūkṣmāṇi ṣaḍaṅgaṃ ca maheśvaram | pradhānaviniyogajñaḥ paraṃ brahmānupaśyati

Having known the seven subtle principles and the six-limbed Great Lord, one who understands the application of the Pradhana beholds the supreme Brahman.