Devanagari
सुप्तिप्रबोधयो: सन्धावात्मनो गतिमात्मदृक् ।
पश्यन्बन्धं च मोक्षं च मायामात्रं न वस्तुत: ॥ ५ ॥
Verse text
supti-prabodhayoḥ sandhāv
ātmano gatim ātma-dṛk
paśyan bandhaṁ ca mokṣaṁ ca
māyā-mātraṁ na vastutaḥ
Synonyms
supti
—
in the state of unconsciousness
;
prabodhayoḥ
—
and in the state of consciousness
;
sandhau
—
in the state of marginal existence
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of oneself
;
gatim
—
the movement
;
ātma
—
dṛk — one who can actually see the self
;
paśyan
—
always trying to see or understand
;
bandham
—
the conditional state of life
;
ca
—
and
;
mokṣam
—
the liberated state of life
;
ca
—
also
;
māyā
—
mātram — only illusion
;
na
—
not
;
vastutaḥ
—
in fact .
Translation
During unconsciousness and consciousness, and between the two, he should try to understand the self and be fully situated in the self. In this way, he should realize that the conditional and liberated stages of life are only illusory and not actually factual. With such a higher understanding, he should see only the Absolute Truth pervading everything.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
During deep sleep, dreaming and waking states, one whose aim is ātmā and who sees the truth about ātmā sees bondage and liberation as unreal.
Having the goal of ātmā at all times (ātmā-dṛk) in the juncture which reveals the state of deep sleep (in which ātmā-tattva is covered by tamas) and the waking and dream states (in which ātmā-tattva is distorted), not experiencing tamas or agitation at those times, seeing the truth about ātmā (ātmanaḥ gatim), seeing bondage and liberation as only māyā, he should see Supreme Brahman everywhere. It is said in the yoga scriptures:
nidrādau jāgarasyānte yo bhāva upajāyate
taṁ bhāvaṁ bhāvayan nityaṁ mucyate netaro yatiḥ
The sannyāsī who meditates constantly upon the state which presides in sleep and after waking is liberated. No one else is liberated.
Purport
The unconscious state is nothing but ignorance, darkness or material existence, and in the conscious state one is awake. The marginal state, between consciousness and unconsciousness, has no permanent existence. Therefore one who is advanced in understanding the self should understand that unconsciousness and consciousness are but illusions, for they fundamentally do not exist. Only the Supreme Absolute Truth exists. As confirmed by the Lord in
Bhagavad-gītā
(9.4)
:
mayā tatam idaṁ sarvaṁ
jagad avyakta-mūrtinā
mat-sthāni sarva-bhūtāni
na cāhaṁ teṣv avasthitaḥ
“By Me, in My unmanifested form, this entire universe is pervaded. All beings are in Me, but I am not in them.” Everything exists on the basis of Kṛṣṇa’s impersonal feature; nothing can exist without Kṛṣṇa. Therefore the advanced devotee of Kṛṣṇa can see the Lord everywhere, without illusion.