Based primarily on the translation from the Sanskrit by Thomas A. Kochumuttom in A Buddhist Doctrine of Experience.
kalpitaḥ paratantraś ca pariniṣpanna eva ca / trayaḥ svabhāvā dhīrāṇām gambhīrajñeyam iṣyate //
The imagined, the other-dependent, and the absolutely accomplished: These are the three natures accepted to be what should be thoroughly known by the wise. [1]
yat khyāti paratantro'sau yathā khyāti sa kalpitaḥ / pratyayādhīnavṛttitvāt kalpanāmātrabhāvataḥ //
That which appears is the other-dependent, for it depends on causal conditions; the form in which it appears is the imagined
For it is merely an imagination. [2]
tasya khyātur yathakhyānam yā sadāvidyamānatā / jñeyaḥ sa pariniṣpannahsvabhāvo'nanyathātvataḥ //
The perpetual absence of the form in which the other-dependent appears Is to be understood as the absolutely accomplished nature, for it is never otherwise. [3]
tatra kiṃ khyāty asatkalpaḥ kathaṃ khyāti dvayātmanā / tasya kā nāstitā tena yā tatrādvayadharmatā //
What is it that appears? It is the imagination of the non-existent. How does it appear? In the form
of duality. What will result from its non-existence? There will be the state of non-duality. [4]
asatkalpo'tra kaś cittaṃ yatas tat kalpyate yatha/ yathā ca kalpayaty artham tathātyantaṃ na vidyate//
What is meant by the imagination of the nonexistent? It is thought, for by it [the subject-object
duality] is imagined. The form in which it imagines a thing never at all exists as such. [5]
tadd hetuphalabhāvena cittaṃ dvivibhav iṣyate / yadālayākhyaṃ vijñānaṃ pravṛttyākhyaṃ ca saptadhā //
The citta takes on two modes, as cause and effect, It is then respectively called The store-consciousness and the active consciousness, the latter being seven-fold. [6]
saṃkleśavāsanābījaiś citatvāc cittamucyate / cittam ādyaṃ dvitīyaṃ tu citrākārapravṛttitaḥ //
The first is called citta, meaning 'collected' because in it are collected the seeds of defilements and habits; The second, however, is called citta, because it acts in diverse ways. [7]
samāsato'bhūtakalpaḥ sa caisa trividho mataḥ / vaipākikas tathā naimittiko'nyaḥ prātibhāsikaḥ //
Collectively, this is the imagination of the unreal forms; That, too, is said to be three-fold: maturing, caused, and phenomenal. [8]
prathamo mūlavijñānaṃ tad vipākātmakaṃ yataḥ / anyaḥ pravṛttivijñānaṃ dṛśyadṛgvittivṛttinaḥ //
Of them, the first, [namely the maturing one], is the basic consciousness, because its nature is to become matured; The others, [namely the caused and the phenomenal ones], are the active consciousness, for, the latter for its reality, depends on the knowledge of the perceived-perceiver distinction. [9]
sadasattvād dvayaikatvāt saṃkleśavyavadānayoḥ / lakṣaṇābhedataś ceṣṭā svabhāvānāṃ gaṃbhīratā //
Existent as well as non-existent, dual as well as unitary; Because defilement (kleśa) and purity (vyavadāna) together Are not mutually different in characteristic (lakṣaṇa), The profundity of the three natures is indeed recognized. [10]
sattvena gṛhyate yasmād atyantābhāva eva ca / svabhāvaḥ kalpitas tena sadasallakṣaṇo mataḥ //
The imagined nature is said to be defined both as existent and as nonexistent, for on the one hand it is grasped as existent, While, on the other, It is totally non-existent. [11]
vidyate bhrāntibhāvena yathākhyānaṃ na vidyate / paratantro yatas tena sadasallakṣaṇo mataḥ //
The other-dependent nature is said to be defined both as existent and as nonexistent, for, it exists as an illusion, It does not exist, though, in the form in which it appears. [12]
advayatvena yac cāsti dvayasyābhāva eva ca/ svabhāvas tena niṣpannaḥ sadasallakṣaṇo mataḥ //
The absolutely accomplished nature is said to be defined both as existent and as non-existent, for, it exists as a state of non-duality, It is also the non-existence of duality. [13]
dvaividhyāt kalpitārthasya tadasattvaikabhāvataḥ / svabhāvaḥ kalpito bālair dvayaikatvāmako mataḥ //
The nature that is imagined by the ignorant is said to be both dual and unitary, for, as it is imagined, a thing has two forms, But as those two forms do not exist, it is unitary. [14]
prakhyānād dvayabhāvena bhrāntimātraikabhāvataḥ / svabhāvaḥ paratantrakhyo dvayaikatvātmako mataḥ //
The other-dependent nature is said to be dual as well as unitary, for it appears in dual form, While it has an illusory unity as well. [15]
dvayābhāvasvabhāvatvād advayaikasvabhāvataḥ / svabhāvaḥ pariniṣpanno dvayaikatvātmako mataḥ //
The absolutely accomplished nature is said to be dual as well as unitary, for, on the one hand, It is by nature the absence of duality, And, on the other hand, it is in the nature of unity without duality. [16]
kalpitaḥ paratantraśca jñeyaṃ saṃkleśalakṣaṇam / pariniṣpanna iṣṭas tu vyavadanasya lakṣaṇam //
What is to be known as being defined as defilement are the imagined and the other-dependent natures, While the absolutely accomplished nature is recognized as the definition of purity. [17]
asaddvayasvabhāvatvāt tadabhāvasvabhāvataḥ / svabhāvāt kalpitājjñeyo niṣpanno'bhinnalakṣaṇaḥ//
The absolutely accomplished nature is to be understood as not different in definition from the imagined nature, For, the latter being in the nature of unreal duality, is by nature the absence of that duality. [18]
advayatvasvabhāvatvād dvayābhāvasvabhāvataḥ / niṣpannāt kalpitaścaiva vijñeyo'bhinnalakṣaṇaḥ //
The imagined nature, too, is to be understood as not different in definition from the absolutely accomplished one, For, the latter being in the nature of non-duality, is by nature the absence of duality. [19]
yathākhyanam asadbhāvāt tathāsattvasvabhāvataḥ / svabhāvāt paratantrākhyān niṣpanno'bhinnalakṣaṇaḥ //
The absolutely accomplished nature Is to be understood as not different in definition from the other-dependent nature, For, the latter being non-existent in the form in which it appears, is by nature the non-existence of that form. [20]
asaddvayasvabhāvatvād yathākhyānāsvabhāvataḥ / niṣpannāt paratantro'pi vijñeyo'bhinnalakṣaṇaḥ //
The other-dependent nature, too, is to be understood as not different in definition from the absolutely accomplished one, For, the former being in the nature of nonexistent duality, Is by nature non-existent in the form in which it appears. [21]
kramabhedaḥ svabhāvānāṃ vyavahārādhikārataḥ / tatpraveśādhikārāc ca vyutpattyarthaṃ vidhīyate //
For the sake of proficiency a particular order of the natures is recommended, which takes into account the conventions [about them], and how one understands them. [22]
kalpito vyavahārātmā vyavahartrātmako'paraḥ / vyavahārasamucchedahsvabhāvaś cānya iṣyate //
The imagined nature is essentially of conventional values, the other, [namely the other-dependent nature], Is essentially that which brings about such conventional values, And the third, [namely the absolutely accomplished nature], is the nature freed of all conventional values. [23]
dvayābhāvātmakaḥ pūrvaṃ paratantraḥ praviśyate / tataḥ praviśyate tatra kalpamātram asaddvayam //
First, the other-dependent nature, which is essentially the absence of duality Is understood; Then, the unreal duality, namely the duality that is mere imagination, is understood. [24]
tato dvayābhāvabhāvo niṣpanno'tra praviśyate / tathā hy asāv eva tadā astināstīti cocyate //
Then is understood the absolutely accomplished nature, which is positively the absence of duality, For, that very nature is then said to be both existing and non-existing. [25]
trayo'pyete svabhāvā hi advayālabhyalakṣaṇāḥ / abhāvād atathābhāvāt tadabhāvasvabhāvataḥ //
All these three natures [Depend for their definition] on [the concept of] non-duality; For, [with reference to the imagined nature], There is the unreality of duality, [with reference to the other-dependent nature], it is not in the dual form in which it appears, and, [with reference to the absolutely accomplished nature], it is by its very nature the absence of that duality. [26]
māyākṛtaṃ mantravasāt khyāti hastyātmanā yathā / ākāramātraṃ tatrāsti hastī nāsti tu sarvathā //
It is like the magical power, which by the working of incantations appears in the nature of an elephant; There is altogether no elephant at all but only its form. [27]
svabhāvaḥ kalpito hastī paratantras tadākṛtiḥ / yas tatra hastyabhāvo'sau pariniṣpanna iṣyate //
The elephant stands for the imagined nature, its form for the other-dependent nature, And, that which remains when the elephant has been negated, stands for the absolutely accomplished nature. [28]
asatkalpas tathā khyāti mūlacittād dvayātmanā / dvayam atyantato nāsti tatrāsty ākṛtimātrakam //
So, the imagination of the unreal, by the working of the basic thought, appears in the nature of duality; There is altogether no duality at all, but only its form. [29]
mantravan mūlavijñānaṃ kāṣṭhavat tathatā matā / hastyākāravad eṣṭavyo vikalpo hastivad dvayam //
The basic consciousness is like the incantations, Suchness is like the piece of wood, The [subject-object] discrimination is like the form of the elephant and the duality is like the elephant. [30]
arthatattvaprativedhe yugapal lakṣaṇatrayam / parijñā ca prahāṇaṃ ca prāptiś ceṣṭā yathākramam //
In comprehending the truth of things all three definitions have to be taken together, [although methods of) knowledge, rejection and attainment are to be employed respectively. [31]
parijñānupalambho'tra hānirakhyānamiṣyate / upalambhanimittā tu prāptiḥ sākṣātkriyāpi sā //
There, knowledge is non-perception, rejection/destruction is non-appearance, Attainment, effected by perception. is direct realization. [32]
dvayasyānupalambhena dvayākāro vigacchati / vigamāt tasya niṣpanno dvayābhāvo'dhigamyate //
By the non-perception of duality the form of duality disappears; The non-duality resulting from its disappearance is then attained. [33]
hastino'nupalambhaś ca vigamaśca tadākṛteḥ / upalambhaś ca kāṣṭhasya māyāyāṃ yugapad yathā //
It is just as the case of magic, in which the non-perception of the elephant, the disappearance of its form, and the perception of the piece of wood, take place all at once. [34]
viruddhadhī-kāraṇatvād buddher vaiyarthyadarśanāt / jñānatrayānuvṛtteśca mokṣāpatter ayatnataḥ //
The attainment of liberation becomes effortless by getting rid of misunderstanding, Intellectually seeing the meaninglessness, and following the threefold knowledge. [35]
cittamātropalambhena jñeyārthānupalambhatā / jñeyārthānupalambhena syāccittānupalambhatā //
Through the perception that there is only thought, there arises the non-perception of knowable things; Through the non-perception of knowable things, there arises the non-perception of thought, too. [36]
dvayor anupalambhena dharmadhātūpalambhatā / dharmadhātūpalambhena syād vibhutvopalambhatā //
From the non-perception of duality there arises the perception of the ‘essence of reality’; From the perception of the essence of reality there arises the perception of unlimitedness. [37]
upalabdhivibhutvaś ca svaparārtha prasiddhitaḥ / prāpnoty anuttarāṃ bodhiṃ dhimān kāyatrayātmikām//
The wise man, having perceived the unlimitedness, and seeing the meaning of oneself and others, Attains the unsurpassed enlightenment, which is in the nature of the three bodies. [38]