1. Brahman is empty like the sky. It is limitless and expansive, attributeless, pure, and eternally still like space.
2. It is called Paramatman, the Supreme Self. It is not possible to know all of the names that it has been given. Understand that it is as it is, at the beginning and at the end of everything.
3. It is expansive and spread out everywhere like open space. It has no appearance and it is imperceptible. It is as it is.
4. It exists everywhere in all directions, as well as in the netherworld. It does not end at the limit of space, or even at the end of an era. It always continues to exist.
5. Like this, it is That which is unmoving. In that stillness there arises the appearance of movement. This movement has many names and is evident in three different ways.
6. Not being visible, different names are given to it. Because it is not seen, some descriptions of it must be given, and so it can be understood, it is called by many various names.
7. It is called the Primal Illusion (Moolamaya), Original Creation (Moola Prakriti), and Original Being (Moola Purusha). It is also called Shiva-Shakti as well as many other names.
8. However, whatever the names are that are given to it, primarily it must be recognized first. Without actual experience how can one say anything about it?
9. Without having ascertained its form, nature, and relative associations properly, one should not get carried away with its names. Without actual experience there is only confusion and imagined knowledge about it.
10. In the unmoving sky there is a restless wind that makes various sounds with its motion, but there is a difference between the sky and the wind.
11. In the same way, the Absolute Reality is still, and in it the restless Illusion (Maya), which is delusion itself, appears, whirling around. Now the confusion and bewilderment of this whirling Illusion will be shown.
12. Just as the wind moves in the sky, in the same way there is movement in the unmoving. The indication of this stirring of movement is the arising of desire in the form of an inspiration or subtle assertion.
13. The sense of "I Am" is itself Knowledge or Consciousness, and is what is called the Primal Illusion. This is also called the Great Causal Body of the universe.
14. This "Great Illusion" (Mahamaya) is called the Original Creation (Moola Prakriti), the Primal Illusion. It is unaffected by the Casual Body that is ignorance, the Subtle Body that is the intelligence in the universe, or the Gross Body that is the manifest gross form of the universe.
15. This is the classical presentation of the five parts of the whole according to the scriptures. These are known as the four bodies of God that are the coverings on the Absolute Reality. Therefore, it is said that Consciousness is the Primal Illusion.
16. Masculine names that are given to this one principle are Supreme Self (Paramatman), Supreme Lord (Parameshwar), Lord above All (Paresh), Dense Knowledge (Jnanaghana), Lord of the World (Jagadisha), and Self of the World (Jagadatma).
17. It is the Form of Power (Sattarupa), the Form of Knowledge (Jnanarupa), The Form of Illumination (Prakasharupa), the Form of Light (Jyotirupa), the Form of the Cause (Karanarupa), and the Form of Consciousness (Chidrupa) that is pure, subtle and unattached.
18. It is called the Self (Atma), the Inner-Self (Antaratma), the Universal Self (Vishvatma), the Seer (Drashta), the Witness (Sakshi), the Self of All (Sarvatama), the Knower of the Field (Kshetrajnana), the Self as Shiva (Shivatma), the Self as the individual (Jivatma), the One in the body (Dehi), and the One who is perpetually the same (Kutashta).
19. It is called the Self that is the Lord of the Gods (Indratma), the Self that is Brahman (Brahmatma), The Self that is Shiva and Vishnu (Hariharaatma), the Self that is the God of Death (Yamatama), the Self that is Religion (Dharmatma), the Self that withdraws into peace (Nairutyatma), the Self that is the deities of water, wind, and wealth (Varuna-Vayu-Kuberatma), and the One who is the support of the sages, gods and ascetics (Rishi-Deva-Muni-Dharta).
20. It is the one Self that is within the various groups of celestial singers, scholars, and musicians. It is the Self that is the inner-mind of all.
21. It is the Inner-Self that governs the moon, the sun, the constellations, the various lands, the clouds, the twenty-one heavens, and the seven hells.
22. The hidden vine of the Primal Illusion has spread itself out everywhere. Many examples of its masculine names have been given, and now the listeners are asked to listen to some of its feminine names.
23. The Primal Illusion (Moolamaya), the Goddess of the World (Jagadishwari), Supreme Knowledge (Paramavidya), the Supreme Goddess (Parameshwari), the Goddess that pervades the world (Vishvavanda), the Goddess of the Universe (Vishveshvari), the Mother of the Three Worlds (Trailokyajanani).
24. The Hidden Cause (Antarhetu), the Hidden Aspect (Antarkala), the Womb of Silence (Maunyagarbha), the Lustre of Intelligence (Janivakala), the Most Active (Chapala), the Universal Light (Jagajyoti), the Blooming of Life (Jivanakala), the most subtle sound within (the first stage of speech, or Para Speech), the sound at the heart (the second stage of speech, or Pashyanti Speech), and the soft whisper of recognizable sound (the third stage of speech, or Madhyama Speech).
25. It is also called ingenuity, intellect, remembrance, awareness, various inspirations, and that which reveals and displays the past, present, and future to the intellect.
26. It is the knower of the waking, dream, and deep sleep states, and it is the ever constant knowingness of the fourth state (Turya). It is the knower of pleasure and sorrow, respect and insult. It is the knower of everything.
27. It is extremely cruel yet benevolent. It is extremely tender and affectionate, as well as extremely passionate and greedy beyond limits.
28. It is the bestower of peace, forgiveness, detachment, devotion, Self-Knowledge, the final liberation of complete union with the Self, the power of inquiry, and the effortless "natural state."
29. Previously the masculine names were given, and then the feminine names were stated. Now, the listeners are asked to listen to the names of the neuter gender of the ever-changing Illusion.
30. It is called knowing, the inner-mind, listening, reflecting, Life-Energy, and the Life that comes and goes. See this while remaining alert and composed.
31. It is the knower of both the sense of "me" and of "you." It is the Knowledge that is the knower of all. It is the knower of the state of the individual, the state of Shiva, the state of God, and the state of desirelessness.
32. There many names such as these, but it is all only one Universal Light. Those who inquire deeply know that it is the one Self that is the knower of everything.
33. Whether it is called the Self, the Universal Light, or the "knower of all," know that all three of these names indicate only One, alone. Understand that it is the inner-mind that is itself the living proof of existence.
34. There are innumerable names of masculine, feminine, and neutral gender that are used, but how can the vast structure of creation be described?
35. The Inner-Self is One and it moves the many, from ants right up through Brahma and the other gods.
36. Understand now to some extent how the Inner-Self is present and how it reveals many kinds of diverse activities.
37. It can be understood but cannot be seen. It comes to be experienced but it does not have an appearance. It is in the body but it does not reside in one place.
38. It fills the sky intensively. When seeing a lake, it is seen spread out all over its surface. It becomes an object yet it remains spread out in all directions.
39. Seeing an object it becomes like that object, and it changes faster than the wind.
40. It sees through many eyes, it tastes through many tongues, and it identifies many things with the mind.
41. It occupies the ears and is the hearer of sounds, it smells scents with the nose, and it knows the sensations of hot and cold as well as other sensations with the skin.
42. Like this, it knows the inner play of all the activities of Consciousness. It dwells within all things, but remains different from them. He alone knows and sees his own wonderful play.
43. It is not male or female, nor a young boy, nor a young girl. It holds the body that is without gender, yet it is not impotent.
44. It is the mover of all bodies. It does everything but is a non-doer. It is the knower of the field, it is resident in the body, and is the holder of the body, all the while uniformly permeating everywhere.
45. In this world there are two types of "being." One is called destructible and one is indestructible. All living creatures are destructible, and That which permeates everything is indestructible.
46. That primary Being is quite different, as it is without the motion of the five elements, untainted, and unseen. That Supreme Self, Paramatman, is alone and without any modification.
47. Having thrown off all four bodies the aspirant resides beyond any body. Understand that the devotee that is bodiless is the true devotee.
48. Here the question arises, that when all of the bodies have been given up, where can the Inner-Self remain when the changing forms no longer have any place in the unchanging Self.
49. The unmoving Absolute Reality, Parabrahman, is One. Understand that the restless movement is illusory. This actual experience and conviction of this can be gained using the power of discrimination.
50. Here, a great amount of discussion is not required. One is moving and one is unmoving. The Knowledgeable (Jnanis) easily recognize what is Eternal.
51. Give up what is insubstantial and accept and embrace the true substance. Through inquiry into what is Essence and what is non-essence the Jnani always sees what is ephemeral and what is Eternal.
52. Where Knowledge (Jnana) becomes the Supreme Knowledge (Vijnana) of the Self, and where the mind becomes no-mind, how can there be any unsteadiness in the Self?
53. All of this is not something that can be understood with secondhand knowledge. This must be known in one's own experience. To make many efforts without gaining any actual experience is to make a mistake.
54. There is no virtue greater than Truth, and no mistake greater than untruth. Without actual experience there is no contentment.
55. Truth means one’s True Form (Swaroopa), and what is untrue is Illusion, this is a proven fact. Here the true nature of virtue and error which are often called merit and sin have been described.
56. When the mistaken visible disappears, the virtue that is the Absolute Reality remains. Being one's Self alone, one is beyond all names.
57. One is the self-evident Reality oneself. The body has no significance here, and the mountain of error is automatically burned up.
58. Otherwise, without the Knowledge of Brahman, all spiritual practices are useless and tiresome, and the mountain of error does not get washed away.
59. The body is made from error and mistaken concepts, and from there much more error is generated. What can any superficial treatment such as many various spiritual practices do when the disease is in the mind?
60. One can shave off all of the hair on the head, go to many pilgrimage places, do many types of strict penance and torture the body with strict discipline in many places.
61. One can anoint the body with many different kinds of soil, or burn it with hot coins, or even peel off the skin, but it still does not get purified.
62. One can eat cakes of cowdung, or drinks jars of cow urine, or wear different rosaries made from rudraksha seeds or wooden beads.
63. One can even wear religious garments, yet still the error is present in the mind. For the burning up of all this error, Self-Knowledge is required.
64. The greatness of Self-Knowledge is millions of times more important than any spiritual vows, charities, yogic practices, or visiting places of pilgrimage.
65. There is no limit to the virtue of one who always sees with Self-Knowledge, because the affliction of error has vanished.
66. The Vedas and other scriptures have described the true nature of the Truth, and that itself is the form of the Jnani whose virtue is immeasurable, and whose good deeds are without limit.
67. This a matter of actual experience. Experience should be gained with Self-vision. One should not remain sorrowful because of a lack of actual experience.
68. Oh, you people who want actual experience, know that without gaining actual experience, life is full of sorrow. Remain determined to gain experience with the blessing of Lord Rama.