Chapter 3: Breaking Through
1: deśabandhaś cittasya dhāraṇā
Application is directing the citta.
2: tatra pratyayaikatānatā dhyānam
Meditation is one-way-going attention.
3: tad evārthamātranirbhāsaṃ svarūpaśūnyam iva samādhiḥ
Samādhi is when only that intention shines forth and all appearances are seen as empty.
4: trayam ekatra saṃyamaḥ
The three [application, meditation, and samādhi] come together in revelation.
5: tajjayāt prajñālokaḥ
That conquest: the shining forth of discernment.
6: tasya bhūmiṣu viniyogaḥ
It proceeds by stages,
7: trayam antaraṅgaṃ pūrvebhyaḥ
the three being the inner parts of the practice.
8: tad api bahiraṅgaṃ nirbījasya
Yet they are (all three) external to the seedless.
9: vyutthānanirodhasaṃskārayor abhibhavaprādurbhāvau nirodhakṣaṇacittānvayo nirodhapariṇāmaḥ
When exuberance ceases and [burdensome] mental activity lifts, manifesting stops and the pull of the divided heart too: this is [real] change.
10: tasya praśāntavāhitā saṃskārāt
This calm flow is [conditioned] by [certain, prior] mental actions.
11: sarvārthataikāgratayoḥ kṣayodayau cittasya samādhipariṇāmaḥ
The fading away of all objectives and the arising of one-pointedness is the change-of-heart called samādhi.
12: tataḥ punaḥ śāntoditau tulyapratyayau cittasyaikāgratāpariṇāmaḥ
From there, higher tranquility with matching attention is the change-of-heart called [full] one-pointedness.
13: etena bhūtendriyeṣu dharmalakṣaṇāvasthāpariṇāmā vyākhyātāḥ
This explains [why] the quality, character, and appearance of the [sense] objects and faculties change.
14: śāntoditāvyapadeśyadharmānupātī dharmī
[Yet] the dharma of the three times conforms to the teachings.
15: kramānyatvaṃ pariṇāmānyatve hetuḥ
Different sequences cause different changes.
16: pariṇāmatrayasaṃyamād atītānāgatajñānam
Knowing the three changes reveals the past and future.
17: śabdārthapratyayānām itaretarādhyāsāt saṃkaras tatpravibhāgasaṃyamāt sarvabhūtarutajñānam
Attending to words and confusing them with meaning is [delusional] mental activity. Discerning this difference reveals the nature of all the world’s languages.
18: saṃskārasākṣātkaraṇāt pūrvajātijñānam
Through the direct perception of the mind-stream, [the yogin can gain] knowledge of [their] past lives
19: pratyayasya paracittajñānam
Through attention, the minds of others.
20: na ca tat sālambanaṃ tasyāviṣayībhūtatvāt
Such [insights] are, however, conditioned because they are subjective.
21: kāyarūpasaṃyamāt tadgrāhyaśaktistambhe cakṣuḥprakāśāsaṃprayoge 'ntardhānam
[Meditating on] the physical body reveals its disappearance through arresting the grasping faculty and through disconnecting the eye from light.
22: sopakramaṃ nirupakramaṃ ca karma tatsaṃyamād aparāntajñānam ariṣṭebhyo vā
Knowing ripe and unripe karma—or [reading] the signs—reveals how things end.
23: maitryādiṣu balāni
Loving-kindness, etc are [also] powers.
24: baleṣu hastibalādīni
[And] from [psychic] power, physical power, etc.
25: pravṛttyālokanyāsāt sūkṣmavyavahitaviprakṛṣṭajñānam
Focusing on the experience of light [reveals] knowledge of things subtle, hidden, and far away
26: bhuvanajñānaṃ sūrye saṃyamāt
[Just as] the sun reveals the earth
27: candre tārāvyūhajñānam
The moon, the arrangement of the stars
28: dhruve tadgatijñānam
The north star, knowledge of their motion
29: nābhicakre kāyavyūhajñānam
The navel wheel, knowledge of the arrangement of the body
30: kaṇṭhakūpe kṣutpipāsānivṛttiḥ
The throat well, the [cause and] cessation of hunger and thirst
31: kūrmanāḍyāṃ sthairyam
[Or] the way of the tortoise, [reveals] steadiness
32: mūrdhajyotiṣi siddhadarśanam
[so too,] the light in the head reveals the divine eye
33: prātibhād vā sarvam
Or, in a flash, everything.
34: hṛdaye cittasaṃvit
In the heart, understanding of the citta [arises]
35: sattvapuruṣayor atyantāsaṃkīrṇayoḥ pratyayāviśeṣo bhogaḥ parārthāt svārthasaṃyamāt puruṣajñānam
[Understanding] distinguishes between the meaning of “person” and the function of the mind which reveals knowledge of the person. Normal experience is attention which conflates one with the other.
36: tataḥ prātibhaśrāvaṇavedanādarśāsvādavārtā jāyante
This produces flashes of hearing, feeling, seeing, tasting, [and] smelling.
37: te samādhāv upasargā vyutthāne siddhayaḥ
Which are obstacles to samādhi, but are powers upon emerging.
38: bandhakāraṇaśaithilyāt pracārasaṃvedanāc ca cittasya paraśarīrāveśaḥ
The mind enters a body when the causes binding it loosen and it is compelled that way.
39: udānajayāj jalapaṅkakaṇṭakādiṣv asaṅga utkrāntiś ca
[But] vanquishing cries, [the conqueror] rises out of the mud and water, untouched by [such] thorns.
40: samānajayāj jvalanam
Conquering existence, [the victor] shines.
41: śrotrākāśayoḥ saṃbandhasaṃyamād divyaṃ śrotram
The relationship between ear and air reveals divine hearing.
42: kāyākāśayoḥ saṃbandhasaṃyamāl laghutūlasamāpatteś cākāśagamanam
The relationship between the body and air, and how cotton attains its lightness, reveal [how] the body goes through the air.
43: bahir akalpitā vṛttir mahāvidehā tataḥ prakāśāvaraṇakṣayaḥ
When the mind moves to the formless state, beyond the body, the covering of the light [of the citta] is weakened.
44: sthūlasvarūpasūkṣmānvayārthavattvasaṃyamād bhūtajayaḥ
The grossness, appearance, subtlety, constitution, and purposefulness of objects reveal their conquest.
45: tato 'ṇimādiprādurbhāvaḥ kāyasaṃpat taddharmānabhighātaś ca
From this come [the insights] such as the atomization of objects, etc, and the direct, pristine [knowledge] of the Dharma’s indestructibility.
46: rūpalāvaṇyabalavajrasaṃhananatvāni kāyasaṃpat
Graceful in form, strong and unbreakable like a diamond: this is a perfect body.
47: grahaṇasvarūpāsmitānvayārthavattvasaṃyamād indriyajayaḥ
Conceit, grasping at appearances, and the tug of meaning reveal how to conquer the faculties.
48: tato manojavitvaṃ vikaraṇabhāvaḥ pradhānajayaś ca
From this comes fleetness, independent of the senses: the conquest of mind over matter.
49: sattvapuruṣānyatākhyātimātrasya sarvabhāvādhiṣṭhātṛtvaṃ sarvajñātṛtvaṃ ca
Even just once seeing this distinction between the mind and the person can lead to a supreme, omniscient existence.
50: tadvairāgyād api doṣabījakṣaye kaivalyam
[But] through dispassion towards even this, [and] with the [prior] weakening of the seeds of delusion, [instead comes] liberation.
51: sthānyupanimantraṇe saṅgasmayākaraṇaṃ punar aniṣṭaprasaṅgāt
Though able to attain a high rebirth [from that point, the yogin,] inclined to disinterest, gives rise [instead] to no more attachment or pride.
52: kṣaṇatatkramayoḥ saṃyamād vivekajaṃ jñānam
Knowledge born of seclusion reveals the sequence of moments.
53: jātilakṣaṇadeśair anyatānavacchedāt tulyayos tataḥ pratipattiḥ
From this, [the yogi] differentiates between similar things previously indistinguishable by origin, characteristic, or position.
54: tārakaṃ sarvaviṣayaṃ sarvathāviṣayam akramaṃ ceti vivekajaṃ jñānam
[This] knowledge-born-of-seclusion of all objects everywhere and of all times is the liberator.
55: sattvapuruṣayoḥ śuddhisāmye kaivalyam iti
Mind and self thus purified, [the meditator attains] liberation.