1. अथातो ब्रह्मजिज्ञासा

1. Now, therefore, the inquiry into Brahman:
May that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose glance brings success to the seeker, who knows the goal, who is endowed with dispassion, whose intellect is composed, who has ceased from agency, who is full of forbearance, faith, tranquility, and self-control, and who discriminates between the eternal and the non-eternal.

2. By whose grace comes liberation from the fear of repeated birth and death, and the attainment of supreme bliss devoid of any equal or superior, who is praised for the attainment of Brahman, the supreme good, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

3. She independently dispels the multitude of births, diminishing the effects of karma, bearing the two powers of veiling and projecting, whose liberation is the very act of freeing, therefore she is praised by me, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

4. Everyone has the right to liberation, there is no distinction, women, children, and those of lower birth are entitled, liberated by the force of her blessings, even animals, parrots, and elephants have crossed over in the past, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

5. What is liberation? Is it the result of ritual, or great devotion, or worldly happiness, or union with the Supreme Deity, or attainment of other worlds? It is the cessation of ignorance of one's own Self, from which knowledge arises, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

6. From whom is the origin, etc., of this world:
By whose instrumental cause the delusive births shine forth, and by whose consciousness all beings function in various ways, who is worshipped at the end of a kalpa, at death, and in deep sleep, into whom all dissolve, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

7. That Brahman, devoid of duality, without attributes, free from all limitations, transcending all proofs, diminishes its own glory and appears as the qualified Brahman, by whose play the worlds awaken and dissolve, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

8. By whose will the desire for creation arises, who has become manifold, the presiding deity, from whom arose ether, air, fire, water, and earth, the cause of existence, and from whom the five elements were combined and all else was born, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

9. Because the scripture is the source:
From whom arose the verses of the Rigveda, Yajurveda, and the melodies of the Samaveda, from whose breath the scriptures expanded, who is known as the source of all scriptures, who constantly awakens the doer of all, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

10. The acceptance of the inquiry into the meaning of Vedanta is that Brahman alone is real, nothing else is false, this complete scripture declares in many ways, determining the purport, the wise one attains the glory of Brahman, whose source is the scripture, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

11. But that is because of harmony:
As there is certainty in the aggregate of duties, so there is nowhere in the established, the embodied self is engaged in many tasks, the enjoyer, this body, but Brahman is undivided, eternal, incomparable bliss, which is known only through scripture, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

12. Not in the insentient, nor in the limited individual soul, is the cause of the world, but in the pre-eminent, the powerful, the omniscient, the immutable, the cause of creation, thus is the harmony, which surely benefits those who are devoted to yoga, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

13. And because of seeing, it is not based on scripture alone:
He who sees the world to be created must be the conscious, the all-pervading, this cannot be possible through the equality of qualities or difference, if there is no consciousness, there is no creation, but that happens through Maya, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

14. Om, that Brahman, the eternal Self, praised by the Vedas, which is declared in the Upanishads, the quality of omniscience applies to that alone, not to the Pradhana, etc., whose will is the cause of the creation of the world, not by any other word, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

15. And because of the secondary meaning, it is not from the non-Self:
The iron ball acquires the qualities of heat and burning in the presence of fire, that fire alone burns the object, it is not endowed with those qualities, similarly, the creation that arises from the Self is not secondary or from the Pradhana, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.

16. In the creation of light, water, and food, the seeing is described, surely the statement of protection is metaphorical, that which is born from it, dissolves into it, and is sustained by it, is not different from the root, may that knowledge, Lalita, ever shine upon me, whose lotus feet bestow bliss.