Chapter XII: Abiding in the Self

#	Sanskrit Original	Translation by Bart Marshall	Translation by John Richards	Translation by Swami Nityaswarupananda
12.1	जनक उवाच। कायकृत्यासहः पूर्वं ततो वाग्विस्तरासहः। अथ चिन्तासहस्तस्मादेवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	Janaka said: Becoming first intolerant of action, then of excessive speech, then of thought itself, I come to be here.	Janaka: First of all I was averse to physical activity, then to lengthy speech, and finally to thinking itself, which is why I am now established.	Janaka said: First I became intolerant of physical action, then of extensive speech and then of thought. Thus verily do I, therefore, abide.
12.2	प्रीत्यभावेन शब्दादेरदृश्यत्वेन चात्मनः। विक्षेपैकाग्रहृदय एवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	Neither sounds nor other sense perceptions attract my attention. Even the Self is unperceived. The mind is free, undistracted, one-pointed. And here I am.	In the absence of delight in sound and the other senses, and by the fact that I am myself not an object of the senses, my mind is focused and free from distraction - which is why I am now established.	I having no attachment for sound etc. and the Self also not being an object of perception, I have my mind free from distraction and one-pointed. Even thus do I abide.
12.3	समाध्यासादिविक्षिप्तौ व्यवहारः समाधये। एवं विलोक्य नियममेवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	Effort is required to concentrate a distracted mind superimposed with illusion. Knowing this, I remain here.	In the absence of delight in sound and the other senses, and by the fact that I am myself not an object of the senses, my mind is focused and free from distraction - which is why I am now established.	Effort is made for concentration when there is distraction of mind owing to superimposition etc. Seeing this to be the rule, thus verily do I abide.
12.4	हेयोपादेयविरहादेवं हर्षविषादयोः। अभावादद्य हे ब्रह्मन्नेवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	Nothing to reject, nothing to accept. No joy, no sorrow. Lord God I am here.	By relinquishing the sense of rejection and acceptance, and with pleasure and disappointment ceasing today, brahman - I am now established.	Being devoid of the sense of the rejectable and the acceptable, and having no joy and sorrow, thus, O Brahman, do I abide to-day.
12.5	आश्रमानाश्रमं ध्यानं चित्तस्वीकृतवर्जनम्। विकल्पं मम वीक्ष्यैतैरेवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	The four stages of life, life without stages, meditation, renunciation, objects of mind - nothing but distractions. I am forever here.	Life in a community, then going beyond such a state, meditation and the elimination of mind-made objects - by means of these I have seen my error, and I am now established.	A stage of life or no stage of life, meditation, renunciation of the objects of the mind, - finding them causing distractions to me, thus verily do I abide.
12.6	कर्मानुष्ठानमज्ञानाद्यथैवोपरमस्तथा। बुध्वा सम्यगिदं तत्त्वमेवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	Doing and not-doing both arise from ignorance. I know this. And I am here.	Just as the performance of actions is due to ignorance, so their abandonment is too. By fully recognising this truth, I am now established.	The cessation from action is as much an outcome of ignorance as the performance thereof. Knowing this truth fully well, thus verily do I abide.
12.7	अचिन्त्यं चिन्त्यमानोऽपि चिन्तारूपं भजत्यसौ। त्यक्त्वा तद्भावनं तस्मादेवमेवाहमास्थितः॥	Thinking of the unthinkable One unavoidably conjures thought. I choose no-thought and remain here.	Trying to think the unthinkable, is doing something unnatural to thought. Abandoning such a practice therefore, I am now established.	Thinking on the Unthinkable One, one betakes oneself only to a form of thought. Therefore giving up that thought, thus verily do I abide.
12.8	एवमेव कृतं येन स कृतार्थो भवेदसौ। एवमेवंस्वभावो यः स कृतार्थो भवेदसौ॥	Blessed is he who attains this by effort. Blessed is he who is such by nature.	He who has achieved this has achieved the goal of life. He who is of such a nature has done what has to be done.	Blessed is the man who has accomplished this. Blessed is he who is such by nature.