Ratnāvalī, Chapter One

oṃ namo ratna-trayāya |
Oṁ! Homage to the three jewels

sarva-doṣa-vinirmuktaṃ guṇaiḥ sarvair alaṃkṛtam |
praṇamya sarva-jñam ahaṃ sarva-sattvaika-bāndhavam ||RV1.1||
To the one free of all the faults, to the one adorned with all the virtues, / I shall bow down, to the all-knowing one, to the one friend of all living beings; //

dharmam ekānta-kalyāṇaṃ rājan dharmodayāya te |
vakṣyāmi dharmaḥ siddhiṃ hi yāti saddharma-bhājane ||RV1.2||
And then, so that you, O King, might carry on up in dharma, I will expound the dharma which is wholly good./ For dharma reaches fulfilment in a deserving receptacle of true dharma. //

prāg dharmo ’bhyudayo yatra paścān naiḥśreyasodayaḥ |
saṃprāpyābhyudayaṃ yasmād eti naiḥśreyasaṃ kramāt ||RV1.3||
Where, beforehand, Dharma was of elevated status, later on there is the going up that leads to ultimate good. / Because, having obtained the elevation in status, one goes gradually in the direction of ultimate good.//

sukham abhyudayas tatra mokṣo naiḥśreyaso mataḥ |
asya sādhana-saṃkṣepaḥ śraddhā-prajñe samāsataḥ ||RV1.4||
Elevation to that elevated status is happy, [but] liberation is esteemed as leading in the direction of ultimate good. / The essential means for that [liberation] are, in brief, belief and wisdom. //

śrāddhatvād bhajate dharmaṃ prājñatvād vetti tattvataḥ |
prajñā pradhānaṃ tv anayoḥ śraddhā pūrvaṃ-gamāsya tu ||RV1.5||
On the grounds of belief one practices dharma; on the grounds of wisdom one knows, in reality; / Of the two, wisdom is paramount, but belief serves as its forerunner. //

chandād dveṣād bhayān mohād yo dharmaṃ nātivartate |
sa śrāddha iti vijñeyaḥ śreyaso bhājanaṃ param ||RV1.6||
One who is not, through desire, hatred, fear, and delusion, untrue to dharma – / He is to be known as faithful; he is a supreme vessel for betterment. //

kāya-vāṅ-mānasaṃ karma sarvaṃ samyak parīkṣya yaḥ |
parātma-hitam ājñāya sadā kuryāt sa paṇḍitaḥ ||RV1.7||
One who examines well all physical, verbal, and mental karma, / With deep understanding of what is good for self and others, and always acts accordingly – he is a wise one. //

ahiṃsā caurya-viratiḥ para-dāra-vivarjanam |
mithyā-paiśunya-pāruṣyābaddha-vādeṣu saṃyamaḥ ||RV1.8||
Doing no harm, abstaining from dishonesty, avoiding other men's wives; / Refraining from any instance of false, slanderous, harsh, or ill-disciplined speech; //

lobha-vyāpāda-nāstikya-dṛṣṭīnāṃ parivarjanam |
ete karma-pathāḥ śuklā daśa kṛṣṇā viparyayāt ||RV1.9||
Giving up covetousness, ill-will, and nihilist views – / These are the ten ways of pure conduct. Their opposites are the impure. //

a-madya-pānaṃ svājīvo ’vihiṃsā dānam ādarāt |
pūjya-pūjā ca maitrī ca dharma eṣa samāsataḥ ||RV1.10||
Not drinking intoxicants, making a clean living, doing no harm, giving sincerely; / Honoring the honorable, and friendliness: this in short is dharma.//

śarīra-tāpanād dharmaḥ kevalān nāsti yat tataḥ |
na para-droha-viratir na pareṣām anugrahaḥ ||RV1.11||
There is no dharma through mere mortification of the body – as a result of which / There is neither abstention from harming others nor conferring of benefit on others. //

dāna-śīla-kṣamā-spaṣṭaṃ yaḥ saddharma-mahā-patham |
anādṛtya vrajet kāya-kleśa-go-daṇḍakotpathaiḥ ||RV1.12||
The broad path of true dharma becomes clear with giving, ethical conduct, and forbearance; / He who, failing to honour it, would go by the wrong paths which are the cow-tracks of physical distress: //

sa saṃsārāṭavīṃ ghorām anantajana-pādapām |
kleśa-vyālāvalīddhāṅgaḥ sudīrghaṃ pratipadyate ||RV1.13||
He enters the terrible forest of saṁsāra, whose trees are endless regeneration; / There he wanders for a long time, body [preyed upon] by a string of ferocious tigers – one afflictive emotion after another. //

1. saṃsārāṭavīṃ ghorām anantajana is reconstructed from the Tibetan.
2. TLB: kleśavyālāvalīḍhāṅgaḥ. For a stopgap solution, read iddha = ferocious.

hiṃsayā jāyate ’lpāyur bahv-ābādho vihiṃsayā |
cauryeṇa bhoga-vyasanī sa(śa[truḥ] paradārikaḥ) ||RV1.14||
Through harm to life one is born again in a short life. Violence is associated with many troubles, / Dishonesty with impoverishment, adultery with making enemies. //

pratyākhyānaṃ mṛṣā-vādāt paiśunyān mitra-bhedanam |
apriya-śravaṇaṃ raukṣyād abaddhād durbhagaṃ vacaḥ ||RV1.15||
From lying stems rejection; from slander, the breaking of friendships; / From harshness, hearing the unpleasant [echo]; from ill-discipline, ill-fated words. //

manorathān hanty abhidhyā vyāpādo bhayadaḥ smṛtaḥ |
mithyā-dṛṣṭeḥ ku-dṛṣṭitvaṃ madya-pānān mati-bhramaḥ ||RV1.16||
Coveting them kills one's heart's desires; ill-will is known to be the bestower of fear; / From a false view stems weak-sightedness; from the drinking of intoxicants, rambling of the mind.//

apradānena dāridryaṃ mithyā-jīvena vañcanā |
stambhena duṣkulīnatvam alpaujaskatvam īrṣyayā ||RV1.17||
Stinginess is associated with poverty; a wrong livelihood with deceit; / Stiff-necked arrogance with an inferior lineage; jealousy with diminished vitality. //

krodhād durvarṇatā maurkhyam apraśnena vipaścitām |
phalam etan manuṣyatve sarvebhyaḥ prāk tu durgatiḥ ||RV1.18||
From anger arises bad colour; from not asking those who know, stupidity; / Such a result is [felt] in the human condition, but preceding all such was wandering in a lower realm.

eṣāṃ akuśalākhyānāṃ vipāko yaḥ prakīrtitaḥ |
kuśalānāṃ tu sarveṣāṃ viparītaḥ phalodayaḥ ||RV1.19||
Opposite to the karmic ripening thus described of these so-called unwholesome deeds,/ Is the arising of the fruit of all wholesome acts.//

lobho dveṣaś ca mohaś ca taj-jaṃ karmeti cāśubham |
alobhāmohādveṣāś ca taj-jaṃ karma ca tac chubham ||RV1.20||
Greed, hatred, ignorance, and the karma born of them, are ugly./ Non-greed, non-hatred, non-ignorance, and the karma born of them, are beautiful.//

aśubhāt sarva-duḥkhāni sarvā durgatayas tathā |
śubhāt sugatayaḥ sarvāḥ sarva-janma-sukhāni ca ||RV1.21||
From the ugly arise all sufferings; likewise all wanderings in lower realms./ From the beautiful arise all goings-on in happy realms, and all happy births.//

nivṛttir aśubhāt kṛtsnāt pravṛttis tu śubhe sadā |
manasā karmaṇā vācā dharmo ’yaṃ dvividhaḥ smṛtaḥ ||RV1.22||
Totally turning back from the ugly while constantly carrying on with the beautiful / In one's mind, in one's action, and in one's words: this is known as the twofold dharma.//

naraka-preta-tiryagbhyo dharmād asmād vimucyate |
nṛṣu deveṣv avāpnoti sukha-śrī-rājya-vistarān ||RV1.23||
Through this dharma one is freed from the realms of hell, hungry ghosts and animals./ Among human beings and among gods, one gains extensive happiness, splendour, and sovereignty.//

dhyānāpramāṇārūpyais tu brahmādyaṃ sukham aśnute |
ity abhyudaya-dharmo ’yaṃ phalaṃ cāsya samāsataḥ ||RV1.24||
By means of the dhyānas, the immeasurables, and the formless states, one obtains the ease of Brahma and the rest./ Thus in brief is the dharma of elevation in status, and its fruit.//

For the four dhyānas, see e.g. Aśvaghoṣa's Saundarananda Canto 17. For the four immeasurables see R3.19 below. The four formless realms (ārūpya-dhātu) are a variation on the theme of the triple world in Brahmanic cosmology.

naiḥśreyasaḥ punar dharmaḥ sūkṣmo gambhīra-darśanaḥ |
bālānāṃ aśru[tima]tām uktas trāsakaro jinaiḥ ||RV1.25||
The dharma that leads in the direction of ultimate good, however, is subtle, and profound in its realization./ It is said by the victorious ones to be fear-inducing in the immature, who are not equipped with listening ears.//

nāsmy ahaṃ na bhaviṣyāmi na me ’sti na bhaviṣyati |
iti bālasya santrāsaḥ paṇḍitasya bhaya-kṣayaḥ ||RV1.26||
“I am not, nor will I be; nothing belongs, nor will belong, to me": / This to the immature is a terror, to the wise it is a relief.//

ahaṃkāra-prasūteyaṃ mama-kāropasaṃhitā |
prajā prajā-hitaikānta-vādinābhihitākhilā ||RV1.27||
Sprung from "I"-making and attached to "my"-making / Is this entire mass of humanity, as described by the teacher of only what was good for humanity.//

asty ahaṃ mama cāstīti mithyaitat paramārthataḥ |
yathābhūta-parijñānān na bhavaty ubhayam yataḥ ||RV1.28||
"I exist, and what is mine exists" – this is ultimately false. / Which is to say that both these [assumptions], following thorough investigation of what really is, do not hold. //

ahaṃ-kārodbhavāḥ skandhāḥ so ’haṃkāro ’nṛto ’rthataḥ |
bījaṃ yasyānṛtaṃ tasya prarohaḥ satyataḥ kutaḥ ||RV1.29||
The skandhas, or aggregates, are produced from "I"-making. That "I"-making, in practice, is not true./ When a seed is a falsehood, how, in truth, can there be growth from that seed? //

skandhān asatyān dṛṣṭvaivam ahaṃkāraḥ prahīyate |
ahaṃkāra-prahāṇāc ca na punaḥ skandha-saṃbhavaḥ ||RV1.30||
When thus it is seen that the skandhas are not true, "I"-making is abandoned, / And from the abandonment of "I"-making, there is no more coming into being of skandhas.//

yathādarśam upādāya sva-mukha-pratibimbakam |
dṛśyate nāma tac caiva na kiṃ cid api tattvataḥ ||RV1.31||
Just as, through the medium of a mirror, one sees the reflection of one's face,/ But that reflection is not anything at all, in reality, //

ahaṃkāras tathā skandhān upādāyopalabhyate |
na ca kaś cit sa tattvena sva-mukha-pratibimbavat ||RV1.32||
So likewise, through the medium of skandhas, is the "I"-maker conceived / But, as with the reflection of one's face, it is not really anything.//

yathādarśam anādāya sva-mukha-pratibimbakam |
na dṛśyate tathā skandhān anādāyāham ity api ||RV1.33||
Just as without the mirror one does not see the reflection of one's face,/ So it is also, without the skandhas, for the "I".

evaṃvidhārtha-śravaṇād dharma-cakṣur avāptavān |
āryānandaḥ svayaṃ caiva bhikṣubhyo ’bhīkṣṇam uktavān ||RV1.34||
Having listened to such meaning and made the Dharma-eye his own,/ Noble Ānanda repeatedly communicated it to the monks: //

skandha-grāho yāvad asti tāvad evāham ity api |
ahaṃkāre sati punaḥ karma janma tataḥ punaḥ ||RV1.35||
So long as there is skandha-grasping, so too is there [the assumption] that "I am." / There being "I"-making there is, in turn, karma; and from that karma there is, in turn, rebirth.//

tri-vartmaitad an-ādy-anta-madhyaṃ saṃsāra-maṇḍalam |
alāta-maṇḍala-prakhyaṃ bhramaty anyonya-hetukam ||RV1.36||
A three-track circuit with no beginning, end, or middle, is this cycle of saṁsāra./ Like a circle of light made by a firebrand, round and around it goes, one thing leading to another.//

sva-parobhayatas tasya trai-kālyato ’py aprāptitaḥ |
ahaṃkāraḥ kṣayaṃ yāti tataḥ karma ca janma ca ||RV1.37||
On the grounds of the ungraspability of that [cycle], as self, other, or both, or on the basis of three times,/ "I"-making fades away, and so also do karma and rebirth.//

evaṃ hetu-phalotpādaṃ paśyaṃs tat-kṣayaṃ eva ca |
nāstitām astitāṃ caiva naiti lokasya tattvataḥ ||RV1.38||
Thus seeing the arising of causes and effects, and their waning, / One does not see either "does-not-exist"-ness or "does-exist"-ness as belonging to the world, in reality.//

sarva-duḥkha-kṣayaṃ dharmaṃ śrutvaivam aparīkṣakaḥ |
saṃtrasyaty aparijñānād abhaya-sthāna-kātaraḥ ||RV1.39||
One who has thus heard the dharma which is the demolition of all suffering, but fails to investigate it,/ Trembles through ignorance, afraid of the fearless state.//

na bhaviṣyati nirvāṇe sarvam etan na te bhayam |
ucyamāna ihābhāvas tasya te kiṃ bhayaṃkaraḥ ||RV1.40||
"In nirvāṇa nothing will exist." This holds no fear for you./ Why is the non-existence of any thing here and now, as now being described, a cause of fear for you?//

mokṣe nātmā na ca skandhā mokṣaś ced īdṛśaḥ priyaḥ |
ātma-skandhāpanayanaṃ kim ihaiva na te priyam ||RV1.41||
"In liberation there will be neither self nor skandhas." If that sort of liberation is dear to you,/ Why, here and now, is the elimination of self and skandhas not dear to you?//

na cābhāvo ’pi nirvāṇaṃ kuta evāsya bhāvatā |
bhāvābhāva-parāmarśa-kṣayo nirvāṇam ucyate ||RV1.42||
Never is nirvāṇa nothingness. How much less can it accommodate being-ness?/ An end to clutching at being and nothingness is called nirvāṇa.//

samāsān nāstitā-dṛṣṭiḥ phalaṃ nāstīti karmaṇām |
apuṇyāpāyikī caiṣā mithyā dṛṣṭir iti smṛtā ||RV1.43||
In brief, the view of "does-not-exist"-ness is that the effect of actions does not exist./ Being without merit and leading downward, this is regarded as a wrong view.//

samāsād astitā-dṛṣtiḥ phalaṃ cāstīti karmaṇām |
puṇyā sugati-niṣyandā samyag-dṛṣṭir iti smṛtā ||RV1.44||
In brief, the view of "does-exist"-ness is that the effect of actions does exist./ Meritorious and leading to a blissful realm, it is regarded as the right view.//

jñānān nāsty-astitā-śānteḥ pāpa-puṇya-vyatikramaḥ |
durgateḥ sugateś cāsmāt sa mokṣah sadbhir ucyate ||RV1.45||
Through knowing, there is coming to quiet of does-not-exist-and-does-exist-ness, on which grounds there is transcending of bad and good./ That, say the wise, is liberation from hell and also from this realm of bliss.//

sahetum udayaṃ paśyan nāstitām ativartate |
astitām api nopaiti nirodhaṃ saha hetunā ||RV1.46||
When one sees going up as having a cause, one passes beyond does-not-exist-ness;/ One does not approach does-exist-ness either, [seeing] cessation together with its cause.//

prāg-jātaḥ saha-jātaś ca hetur āhetuko ’rthataḥ |
prajñapter apratītatvād utpatteś caiva tattvataḥ ||RV1.47||
A cause born before or simultaneously with [its effect] is, in practice, unreasonable./ [This is so] on the grounds of teaching, on the grounds of the skeptical state, and on the grounds of the very act of rising up, in reality. //

apratītatva = lit. "the state of not pratīta," where pratīta is the past participle of prati-√i, as in pratīta-samutpāda. Meanings of prati-√i include to go towards, to go back to (hence to depend upon), and to trust, believe. The second line is hard to translate with confidence. As a stopgap, I have understood it as following a three-phased dialectic progression: Neither cause nor effect exist independently as things unto themselves. This is so on the grounds of 1. belief in the teaching or doctrine of dependent arising, 2. skeptical or scientific investigation of what actually is, 3. experience in sitting-meditation itself, whose essence is oneness.

asmin satīdaṃ bhavati dīrghe hrasvaṃ yathā sati |
asyotpādād udetīdaṃ dīpotpādād yathā prabhā ||RV1.48||
This being so, that is – just as, where there is long, there is short./ Thanks to the arising of this, up goes that – like when, thanks to the appearance of a lamp, there is light.//

hrasve ’sati punar dīrghaṃ na bhavaty asvabhāvataḥ |
pradīpasyāpy anutpādāt prabhāyā apy asaṃbhavaḥ ||RV1.49||
Where short is absent, conversely, long does not exist – there being nothing that exists as a thing unto itself./ Following from the non-appearance of a lamp, again, there is the non-coming-into-being of light.

evaṃ hetu-phalotpādaṃ dṛṣtvā nopaiti nāstitām |
abhyupetyāsya lokasya yāthābhūtyaṃ prapañca-jam ||RV1.50||
Seeing like this the arising of effects from causes, one does not approach does-not-exist-ness – / Once one has realized what this world of men is really like, born as it is from objectification.//

TLB: nopaiti nāstitam.

nirodhaṃ ca prapañcotthaṃ yāthābhūtyād upāgataḥ |
nopayāty astitāṃ tasmān mucyate ’dvaya-niśritaḥ ||RV1.51||
Again, one who on the grounds of what really is, has realized a cessation arising out from objectification,/ Does not approach does-exist-ness. Therefore, not relying on either of two, he is liberated.//

durād ālokitaṃ rūpam āsannair dṛśyate sphuṭam |
marīcir yadi vāri syād āsannaiḥ kiṃ na dṛśyate ||RV1.52||
A form in the far distance is seen clearly by those seated nearby./ If a mirage might be water, why is water not seen by those seated nearby?//

dūrībhūtair yathābhūto loko ’yaṃ dṛśyate tathā |
na dṛśyate tad-āsannair animitto marīcivat ||RV1.53||
As it really is, so this world is seen, by those far detached from it./ It is not seen, like the groundless mirage, by those who are close to it.//

marīcis toya-sadṛśī yathā nāmbho na cārthataḥ |
skandhās tathātma-sadṛśā nātmāno nāpi te ’rthataḥ ||RV1.54||
Just as a mirage seems like water but is not water, and in practice is not,/ So likewise do the skandhas seem like a self but are not of a self; and in practice they are not.//

marīciṃ toyam ity etad iti matvā gato ’tra san |
yadi nāstīti tat toyaṃ gṛhṇīyān mūḍha eva saḥ ||RV1.55||
Having deemed a mirage to be water and gone towards it,/ One who understood that such a thing as water does not exist, would be foolish indeed.//

marīci-pratimaṃ lokam evam astīti gṛhṇataḥ |
nāstīti cāpi moho ’yaṃ sati mohe na mucyate ||RV1.56||
There is this same foolishness in one who concludes of the mirage-like world that "it does exist,"/ Or else "it does not exist." While foolishness prevails, one is not liberated.//

nāstiko durgatiṃ yāti sugatiṃ yāti cāstikaḥ |
yathābhūta-parijñānān mokṣam advaya-niśritaḥ ||RV1.57||
The does-not-exist-er goes to a lower realm, and the does-exist-er goes to a blissful realm./ Through investigating what really is, one who relies on neither of the two [goes towards] liberation. //

anicchan nāstitāstitve yathābhūta-parijñayā |
nāstitāṃ labhate mohāt kasmān na labhate ’stitām ||RV1.58||
If while being averse, because of investigation of what really is, to both does-not-exist-ness and does-exist-ity,/ He unwittingly catches does-not-exist-ness, how thereby does he not catch does-exist-ness? //

syād asti-dūṣaṇād asya nāstitā kṣipyate ’rthataḥ |
nāstitā-dūṣanād evaṃ kasmān nākṣipyate ’stitā ||RV1.59||
If through his refuting of "it does exist," does-not-exist-ness has in practice been cast aside,/ How, in the same way, through refuting does-not-exist-ness, has does-exist-ness not been cast aside?//

na pratijñā na caritaṃ na cittaṃ bodhi-niśrayāt |
nāstikatve ’rthato yeṣāṃ kathaṃ te nāstikāḥ smṛṭāḥ ||RV1.60||
As for those who – beyond vowing, beyond practising, beyond mind – because of relying on awakening,/ Are in practice in the state of negation, how can they be regarded as nihilists?//

sa-sāṃkhyaulūkya-nirgrantha-pudgala-skandha-vādinam |
pṛccha lokaṃ yadi vadaty asti-nasti-vyatikramam ||RV1.61||
Ask the world, with its Sāṃkhya philosophers, with its Vaiśeṣika followers of Ulūka 'The Owl', with its proponents of having no strings attached, of the individual, and of the skandhas – / Ask them if they propound transcendence of does exist and does not exist. //

dharma-yautakam ity asmān nāsty-astitva-vyatikramam |
viddhi gaṃbhīram ity uktaṃ buddhānāṃ śāsanāmṛtam ||RV1.62||
Know on these grounds why the gift of dharma which goes beyond states of does-not-exist and does-exist,/ The deathless nectar of the teaching of buddhas, is called "profound."//

vibhavaṃ naiti nāyāti na tiṣṭhaty api ca kṣaṇam |
traikālya-vyativṛttātmā loka evaṃ kuto ’rthataḥ ||RV1.63||
The world is not passing to its destruction; it is not coming here; and it does not stand still even for an instant;/ Thus inherently transcendent over threefold temporality, how, in practice, is it? //

dvayor apy āgati-gatī yat sthitiś ca na tattvataḥ |
loka-nirvāṇayos tasmād viśeṣaḥ ka ivārthataḥ ||RV1.64||
There is no such thing as coming, going, and standing still, in reality,/ Of either world or nirvāṇa. Between the two, therefore, in practice, what essential difference is there? //

sthiter abhāvād udayo nirodhaś ca na tattvataḥ |
uditaś ca sthitaś ceti niruddhaś ca kuto ’rthataḥ ||RV1.65||
In the absence of standing still, there is no such thing, in reality, as an arising or a ceasing;/ On what basis can there be, in practice, the arisen, the stood still, and the ceased? //

katham akṣaṇiko bhāvaḥ pariṇāmaḥ sadā yadi |
nāsti cet pariṇāmaḥ syād anyathātvaṃ kuto ’rthataḥ ||RV1.66||
How can being be other than instantaneous, if change is constant?/ If change might not exist, how, in practice, is there variation?//

eka-deśe kṣayād vā syāt kṣaṇikaṃ sarvaśo ’pi vā |
vaiṣamyānupalabdheś ca dvidhāpy etad ayuktimat ||RV1.67||
[Being] must be instantaneous either through destruction at the level of individual particles, or as a function of the whole. / Because no disparity is observable, this, either way, is unreasonable.//

kṣaṇike sarvathābhāvāt kutaḥ kā cit purāṇatā |
sthairyād akṣaṇike cāpi kutaḥ kā cit purāṇatā ||RV1.68||
Being instantaneous, it is in no way a continuity of being; hence, how can there be any such thing as antiquity? / Again, if it were non-instantaneous, and there were fixity, how could there be any such thing as antiquity? //

yathānto ’sti kṣaṇasyaivam ādi-madhyaṃ ca kalpyatām |
tryātmakatvāt kṣaṇasyaivaṃ na lokasya kṣaṇaṃ sthitiḥ ||RV1.69||
Let us speculate that just as, in this way, there is an end to a moment, there is also a beginning and a middle./ If, in this way, a moment has a tripartite nature, it follows that there is no instantaneous existing of the world.//

ādi-madhyāvasānāni cintyāni kṣaṇavat punaḥ |
ādi-madhyāvasāna-tvaṃ na svataḥ parato ’pi vā ||RV1.70||
Again, beginning, middle and end can be considered in the same way as instants./ Beginning-middle-end-ness is not a function of itself; nor otherwise it is a function of others.//

naiko ’neka-pradeśatvān nāpradeśaś ca kaś cana |
vinaikam api nāneko nāstitvam api cāstitām ||RV1.71||
Because of multi-directionality, there is no singularity. And there is nothing that lacks directions./ At the same time, without singularity there is no plurality, and so it is with does-not-exist-ness and does-exist-ness. //

vināśāt pratipakṣād vā syād astitvasya nāstitā |
vināśaḥ pratipakṣo vā kathaṃ syād asty-asaṃbhavāt ||RV1.72||
The does-not-exist-ness of existence can exist either through negation or through oppposition./ [But] how can either negation or opposition exist without the coming-into-being of does-exist? //

nirvṛtes tena lokasya nopaity ūnatvam arthataḥ |
antavān iti lokaś ca pṛṣṭas tūṣṇīṃ jino ’bhavat ||RV1.73||
In the process of its ultimate extinction, therefore, the world is not undergoing, in practice, any diminishment; / And so, asked whether the world has an end, the Victorious One remained silent.//

sarvajña iti sarvajño budhais tenaiva gamyate |
yenaitad dharma-gāmbhīryaṃ novācābhājane jane ||RV1.74||
For that very reason, the All Knowing One is understood by the wise to have been a knower of every one – / Because he did not voice this profundity of dharma to people who were not deserving receptacles.//

iti naiḥśreyaso dharmo gambhīro niṣparigrahaḥ |
anālaya iti proktaḥ saṃbuddhais tattva-darśibhiḥ ||RV1.75||
Thus the dharma that leads in the direction of ultimate good has been called "profound," "ungraspable,"/ And "of no fixed abode," by fully awakened sambuddhas, realizers of reality.//

tasmād anālayād dharmād ālayābhiratā janāḥ |
asti-nasty-avyatikrāntā bhītā naśyanty amedhasaḥ ||RV1.76||
People who delight in fixed abodes fail; frightened by this dharma of no abode,/ Failing to go beyond does-exist and does-not-exist, the dullards come to nothing.//

te naṣṭā nāśayanty anyān a-bhaya-sthāna-bhīravaḥ |
tathā kuru yathā rājan (naṣṭair na vipranāśyase) ||RV1.77||
Ruined, they who are afraid of fearlessness would ruin others./ Act in such a way, O King, that the ruined do not ruin you. //

[RV1.78]
為汝成不壞 我當說真理
由依無倒合 離有無二執
So that you might realize non-ruination,
I will explain the true principle,
Relying on no disintegration or integration,
Distanced from the dual fixations does-exist and does-not-exist.

[RV1.79]
此過福非福 甚深義明了
非身見怖空 二人境當說
This, beyond merit and demerit,
Is profound and perfectly clear in meaning.
It is not physically realized by those who fear emptiness –
The preachers of dual human abodes.

[RV1.80]
四大及空識 一聚俱非人
若合離非人 云何執人有
The four elements [earth, water, fire, wind] along with space and consciousness,
All assembled together, are not a person.
If their joining and separation are not a person,
What enduring person is there?

[RV1.81]
如六界非人 聚故虛非實
一一界同然 由聚故非實
Just as the six sense-spheres are not a person,
Because it is put together, the void is not the real.
Each of the spheres, one by one, similarly,
Because of being put together, is not real.

[RV1.82]
陰非我我所 離陰我不顯
不如薪火雜 何依陰成我
Skandhas are not me or mine.
Apart from skandhas I am not evident.
It is not like fuel and fire mixing.
How, relying on skandhas, can there be the making of me?

[RV1.83]
地界非三大 地中亦無三
三中亦無地 相離互不成
The earth is not three elements.
In the earth, again, the three do not exist.
In the three, again, the earth does not exist.
Apart from each other, neither is realized.

[RV1.84]
地水火風大 各自性不成
一離三不成 三離一亦爾
The elements – earth, water, fire and wind –
Each as a thing unto itself is not realized.
The three are not realized without each one.
Likewise for the one without the three.

[RV1.85]
一三及三一 相離若不成
各各自不成 彼相離云何
One is three and three are one –
If neither is realized separately,
Each is not realized as a thing unto itself.
How can they be separate from each other?

[RV1.86]
若各離自成 離薪何無火
動礙及相聚 水風地亦然
If each separately realizes itself,
Why is there no fire without fuel?
Movement, solidity, and cohesion
Similarly, [do not exist apart from] water, wind, earth.

[RV1.87]
若火不自成 三云何各立
三大緣生義 相違云何成
If fire does not realize itself by itself
How can each of the three stand?
Except in accord with the teaching of dependent arising,
How can three elements be realized?

[RV1.88]
若彼各自成 云何更互有
若各自不成 云何互成有
If each is realized by itself
How can it also exist in a mutual relation?
Without each realizing itself
How can mutual realization exist?

[RV1.89]
若言不相離 諸大各自成
不雜則不共 若雜非獨成
If [you] say, "Inseperably from the others,
Each of the elements realizes itself,"
Then when not mixed they are not integrated
And if mixed they are not realized independently.

[RV1.90]
諸大非各成 云何各性相
各成無偏多 故相假名說
When elements are not realized individually,
How can each show a form in its own right?
Individual realization lacks predominance;
Therefore its form is explained as only conventionally real.

[RV1.91]
色聲香味觸 簡擇義如大
眼色識無明 業生擇亦爾
For colours, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile sensations,
The analysis is as for the elements;
For eye, form and consciousness; for ignorance;
For karma and for birth, the analysis is also like that.

[RV1.92]
作者業及事 數合因果世
短長及名想 非想擇亦然
For doer and karma, along with thing done;
For numbers and counting; cause and effect; periods of time;
For short and long, along with concept, perception
And non-perception, the analysis is again the same.

[RV1.93]
地水風火等 長短及小大
善惡言識智 智中滅無餘
Earth, water, wind, fire and so on,
Long and short, small and large,
Good and bad, say the wise,
In wisdom cease without trace.

[RV1.94]
如識處無形 無邊遍一切
此中地等大 一切皆滅盡
Just as consciousness is without shape,
Limitless, and all-pervading,
In these elements of earth and so on
All is totally used up.

[RV1.95]
於此無相智 短長善惡業
名色及諸陰 如此滅無餘
At the place of this formless wisdom,
Short and long, good and bad karma,
Psycho-physicality and shadows,
In this way cease without trace.

[RV1.96]
如此等於識 由無明先有
於識若起智 此等後皆盡
Just as these exist a priori in consciousness
On the grounds of ignorance,
If wisdom arises in consciousness,
These subsequently are totally consumed.

[RV1.97]
如是等世法 是然識火薪
由實量火光 世識薪燒盡
All these phenomena
Are like fuel for the fire of consciousness:
Relying on the firelight of true consideration
The fuel of wordly consciousness is burned up. 

ajñāna-kalpitaṃ pūrvaṃ paścāt tattvārtha-nirṇaye |
yadā na labhate bhāvam evābhāvas tadā kuha ||RV1.98||
What before was supposed, in ignorance, is subsequently verified, in a demonstrable state of real fact./ When being is not grasped, where then is nothingness? //

rūpasyābhāva-mātratvād ākāśaṃ nāma-mātrakam |
bhūtair vinā kuto rūpaṃ nāma-mātrakam apy ataḥ ||RV1.99||
Because the non-existence of a material form is nothing but that, space is nothing but a name./ Without the elements, whence a material form? Hence even being nothing but a name itself [is also nothing but a name].//

[RV1.100]
受想行及識 應思如四大
四大如我虛 六界非人法
Feeling, perception, doings, and consciousness
Should be considered like the four elements.
The four elements are like the emptiness of self.
Six sense spheres are not a human convention.

安樂解脫品第一
Chapter One: Easy & Joyful Liberation