चित्तं कारणमर्थानां तस्मिन् सति जगत्त्रयम् । तस्मिन् क्षीणे जगत्क्षीणं तच्चिकित्स्यं प्रयत्नतः ॥ २५ ॥
cittaṁ kāraṇamarthānāṁ tasmin sati jagattrayam | tasmin kṣīṇē jagatkṣīṇaṁ taccikitsyaṁ prayatnataḥ || 25 ||
Translation
The mind is the cause of all things. While it is, the three worlds are; when it wanes, the world wanes. Therefore it must be healed with effort.
Word by word
- cittaṁ
- the mind
- kāraṇam
- is the cause
- arthānāṁ
- of all things
- tasmin
- while it
- sati
- is
- jagat
- worlds
- trayam
- the three
- kṣīṇē
- wanes
- kṣīṇaṁ
- wanes
- tac
- (tat) therefore it
- cikitsyaṁ
- must be healed
- prayatnataḥ
- with effort
Meaning
The central statement of the sarga, and one of the central statements of the whole Yoga Vāsiṣṭha. The mind is kāraṇam arthānām, "the cause of things", of the world as it is experienced. While it is, the three worlds are; when it wanes, the world wanes with it. This is not a denial that things exist; it says that the world one lives in, with its joys and terrors, is the mind's world, and stands and falls with it. Therefore it is to be cikitsya, "treated" as a disease is treated, with effort. The reader is shown where all the work lies: not in rearranging the world, but in healing the mind that makes it.