Passage 1
श्रीराम उवाच— पुरुषार्थपरो नित्यं तत्त्वज्ञः पुरुषो भवेत्। व्यासतस्ते तु चत्वारो द्वावेव तु समासतः॥१॥
Śrī Rāma said: A person who knows reality should always be intent upon the aims of human life. When set out fully they are four, but in summary they are only two.
Passage 2
धर्मार्थकाममोक्षाख्याः क्रमशः परिकीर्तिताः। द्वौ च वेदे निगद्येते दुःखाभावसुखात्मकौ॥२॥
They are traditionally named dharma, material means, desire, and liberation, in that order. Yet the Veda speaks of two essential ends: the absence of suffering and the presence of happiness.
Passage 3
दुःखाभावस्तु मोक्षः स्यात्परः कामोऽपि सम्भवेत्। तयोरङ्गं भवेद्धर्मः स च भूयोऽर्थसाधितः॥३॥
Liberation is the absence of suffering, while the higher fulfillment of desire is happiness. Dharma serves both of these, and dharma in turn is largely accomplished through material means.
Passage 4
अहमेव फलं वेदे तस्य साधनमप्यहम्। नामरूपप्रपञ्चात्मा नित्य एवाहमच्युतः॥४॥
I alone am the fruit taught in the Veda, and I am also the means to that fruit. I am the Self of the entire display of name and form—eternal and imperishable.
Passage 5
रूपप्रपञ्चाशक्तानां कर्तॄणामप्रपञ्चके। अहं चक्रे श्रुतिं दिव्यां भूतभव्यानि यत्र वै॥५॥
For agents attached to the manifested world of forms, I fashioned divine revelation concerning what lies beyond manifestation, in which past and future realities are taught.
Passage 6
आत्मप्रसादकरणीं जगौ तां भगवान् विधिः। स च दिव्यः श्रुतेरर्थः सात्त्विकानां हृदि स्फुरन्॥६॥
The blessed Creator proclaimed that revelation, which brings serenity to the self. Its divine meaning shines within the hearts of those established in sattva.
Passage 7
समन्वयेनाविरोधाद्वेदार्थं च समर्थयेत्। त्रिविधो जीवसंघातो देवदानवमानवाः॥७॥
Through coherent reconciliation and the absence of contradiction, one should establish the meaning of the Veda. Embodied beings form three classes: gods, Dānavas, and human beings.
Passage 8
सर्वेऽपि ते वेदविदो ब्राह्मणा वेदपारगाः। स्वभावगुणभेदेन वेदार्थस्यैव वर्णकाः॥८॥
Among all of them are Veda-knowing brāhmaṇas who have crossed to the far shore of the Veda. According to differences in innate nature and qualities, they expound that same Vedic meaning in different ways.
Passage 9
बुद्धिवैचित्र्यतस्तेषां वेदार्थो बहुधा स्फुटः। केचिद्वेदविदो विप्राः स्वीचक्रुः कर्म मात्रकम्॥९॥
Because their intellects differ, the Veda's meaning appears in many forms. Some learned knowers of the Veda accepted action alone.
Passage 10
कर्मैव सारो वेदानां न ज्ञानं नापि चेश्वरः। ज्ञानमेवाहुरपरे भक्तिमेव तु मामकाः॥१०॥
They say that action alone is the essence of the Vedas—not knowledge and not even the Lord. Others declare knowledge alone, while those who are mine declare devotion alone.
Passage 11
कर्मापि मत्प्रभावेण सूते फलमुदारवत्। ज्ञानं चापि मदाधारस्वरूपं बोधयत्यहो॥११॥
Action itself, through my power, produces its exalted fruit; and knowledge reveals the reality whose foundation is in me.
Passage 12
तस्मान्मत्सेवका लोका भक्तिं कुर्युर्मदात्मिकाम्। अपुनर्जन्मनिष्कामां निषेधः कर्मणि श्रुतः॥१२॥
Therefore those who serve me should practice devotion that consists of me, is free from desire, and brings no further birth. Revelation's prohibition applies to action pursued otherwise.
Passage 13
अन्यथा पुनरुत्पत्तिः क्षयिष्णुकर्मणां भवेत्। भवेषु वै नोत्पद्यन्ते प्रयाता अर्चिरादिना॥१३॥
Otherwise, those whose actions yield perishable results must be born again. Those who depart by the path beginning with flame are not born again among conditioned existences.
Passage 14
धूमादिना प्रयातानां नियतः पुनरुद्भवः। एकमेव भवेत्कर्म प्रकाशस्तस्य भूरिशः॥१४॥
For those who depart by the path beginning with smoke, renewed birth is certain. Action is one in essence, although its manifestations are many.
Passage 15
एक एव च वेदोऽपि नित्या सा मत्तनुर्यतः। लौकिकानामात्मधियां जनानां भवजन्मिनाम्॥१५॥
The Veda too is one, and it is eternal because it is my own body. Yet worldly people, identifying the self through ordinary understanding and taking birth within becoming—
Passage 16
न पाठशक्तिर्नैवापि ज्ञानशक्तिरनन्तदृक्। ततो मदात्मको व्यासश्चातुर्होत्रविभागतः॥१६॥
—possess neither the power to recite it nor the power of knowledge that sees without limit. Therefore Vyāsa, whose being consists of me, divided it according to the four sacrificial priesthoods.
Passage 17
व्यस्तवान् सकलं वेदं ततस्तत्प्रेरितैर्मुने। तच्छिष्यैर्भेदिताः शाखाः कृत्स्नं तन्त्रं वदन्ति ताः॥१७॥
He distributed the entire Veda, sage; then, impelled by him, his disciples divided it into branches. Those branches teach the complete sacred system.
Passage 18
कर्मणां जैमिनिस्तत्त्वं जानाति स महामुनिः। सर्वज्ञो भगवान् व्यासो ज्ञाननिर्णयमुक्तवान्॥१८॥
The great sage Jaimini knows the truth of ritual action, while the omniscient blessed Vyāsa declared the settled conclusion concerning knowledge.
Passage 19
मुनिद्वयनिबन्धार्थः सर्ववेदार्थनिर्णयः। बहुभिर्महर्षिभिर्वादैः कृत्स्नं तन्त्रं प्रकोपितम्॥१९॥
The purpose of the two sages' compositions is to determine the meaning of the whole Veda. Through the arguments of many great seers, the entire sacred system has been stirred into controversy.
Passage 20
वेदराशिमुपासीत पुरुषं तन्मनीषया। करौ पादौ शिरो वक्ष एव वै पुरुषो मतः॥२०॥
One should contemplate the aggregate of the Veda as a Person, with that understanding. Hands, feet, head, and chest are all recognized within this Vedic Person.
Passage 21
शिरस्तत्परमं ब्रह्म यदौपनिषदं ह्यदः। पञ्चसंस्थात्मको यज्ञोऽपराङ्गानि निबोधय॥२१॥
Its head is that supreme Brahman taught in the Upaniṣads. Understand the sacrifice constituted in five forms as the Person's other limbs.
Passage 22
वेदस्यानुगतो ह्यर्थः स्मृतिरित्युच्यते मुने। पूर्वानुभूतवस्तूनां स्मरणं चोच्यते स्मृतिः॥२२॥
Sage, the meaning that follows the Veda is called Smṛti, remembered tradition. The recollection of things experienced before is likewise called memory.
Passage 23
पारम्पर्यविचारतः सालौकिकतापि मता क्वचित्। क्वचिन्न्यायतः क्वचिन्नित्यानुमेयश्रुतिमूलतः॥२३॥
When examined as a transmitted tradition, Smṛti is sometimes regarded as having a worldly basis; elsewhere it rests upon reasoning, and elsewhere upon an eternal revelation inferred as its source.
Passage 24
श्रुतिस्मृती उभे एव धर्मस्य परिपोषिके। जातानां जन्मना पूर्वं गर्भाधानादिकाः क्रियाः॥२४॥
Revelation and remembered tradition together sustain dharma. Before a person is born come rites beginning with conception.
Passage 25
तथैव सन्ध्योपास्यापि नित्यश्राद्धादिकाः क्रियाः। पाकयज्ञादिकं चापि प्रायश्चित्तं तथैव च॥२५॥
Then come the worship performed at the daily junctions, rites such as the regular ancestral offering, domestic sacrifices, and acts of expiation.
Passage 26
इत्येष पञ्चधा धर्मः संगृहीतः पुरातनैः। अयं नित्य इति प्रोक्तः परमो वेदमूलकः॥२६॥
Thus the ancients gathered dharma into these five divisions. This supreme discipline, rooted in the Veda, is declared obligatory.
Passage 27
व्रतं तीर्थं तथा सर्वं नित्यकार्यमिति स्मृतम्। पारम्पर्यवशात्प्राप्तं सद्भिरेव समादृतम्॥२७॥
Vows, pilgrimage, and all such observances are remembered as duties to be performed. Received through tradition, they are honored by the virtuous.
Passage 28
पुराणमूलकं चापि तदनुष्ठेयमुच्चकैः। शुद्धिरेव तु संस्कारः कर्म त्रैवर्णिकस्य यत्॥२८॥
What is rooted in the Purāṇas should likewise be practiced with full commitment. A saṃskāra is precisely a rite of purification prescribed for members of the three twice-born classes.
Passage 29
स चापि बहुधा प्रोक्तो देशकालादिभेदतः। दैशिकः कालिकश्चापि तथा च द्रव्यकृन्मतः॥२९॥
That purification too is described in many forms according to differences of place, time, and the other conditions. It may be produced by place, by time, or by the substance employed.
Passage 30
कर्तृतो मन्त्रतश्चापि कर्मतश्चापि कीर्तितः। षोढा संस्कारमित्याहुः कर्माङ्गं तन्निगद्यते॥३०॥
It is also classified by the agent, by the mantra, and by the act itself. Thus purification is said to be sixfold and is taught as an integral part of ritual action.
Passage 31
वेदतुल्यं पुराणं च प्रमाणत्वे स्मृतं बुधैः। पुराणानां विभागश्च वेदशाखाविभागवत्॥३१॥
The wise remember the Purāṇa as equal to the Veda in authority. The division of the Purāṇas resembles the division of the Veda into branches.
Passage 32
सात्त्विकादिविभेदेन पुराणमपि भिद्यते। योगसांख्ये अपि तथा मद्रूपे सत्त्वसाधिके॥३२॥
The Purāṇas are further distinguished as sāttvika and by the other qualities. Yoga and Sāṃkhya are likewise forms of me that establish one in sattva.
Passage 33
तत्सत्त्वं सनकादीनां नित्यमेव निगद्यते। तद्वेदोपनिषद्भागफलभूतमुदाहृतम्॥३३॥
That state of sattva is eternally taught as belonging to Sanaka and the other sages. It is declared to be the fruit of the Upaniṣadic portion of the Veda.
Passage 34
सत्त्वतः सम्भवेज्ज्ञानं यत्तदात्मनिदर्शकम्। उभयोश्च फलं भक्तिर्भावरूपा महोदया॥३४॥ From sattva arises the knowledge that reveals the Self. The fruit of both Yoga and Sāṃkhya is devotion—the great dawning whose nature is divine feeling. **इति श्रीमदादिरामायणे ब्रह्मभुशुण्डसंवादे उत्तरखण्डे श्रीरामात्रेयसंवादे आत्रेयबोधितश्रीरामगीतायां दशमोऽध्यायः॥१०॥
** Thus ends Chapter Ten of the Śrī Rāma Gītā taught in response to Ātreya, within the dialogue of Śrī Rāma and the sage of Atri's line in the Uttara-khaṇḍa of the glorious Ādi Rāmāyaṇa, in the dialogue of Brahmā and Bhuśuṇḍa.