How did I arrive at my version of each sutra?

Here is the original Sanskrit for verse 49:

hṛdyākāśe nilīnākṣaḥ padmasampuṭamadhyagaḥ |
ananyacetāḥ subhage param saubhāgyam āpnuyāt || 49 ||

opening up the Sanskrit a little we see and hear:

hridayam akasha nilinaksah padma samputa madhyagah
ananya chetah subhage param saubhagyam apnuyat


(This is how it looks if I take the Sanskrit out of Panini’s rules, undo the contractions, and let the basic words be visible.)


Where –

hridayam - heart, akasha - space; in the space of the heart
nilinaksah - with closed eyes
padma - lotus
samputa - mantra such as sarva dharman sharanam aham . . . Samput means repitition.
madhyagah - in the middle
(padma samputa madhyah = the mantra of the lotus in the middle of the heart chakra)
ananya - with no other, without deviation
chetah - awareness (citta)
subhage - embodiment of good fortune
param - highest
saubhagyam - spiritual realization
apnuyat - achieved


An Informal translation could be:


Find the center and listen to the unending song there.

There is a mantra always resonating in the center of your heart

Go there and listen, and be blessed.

Sacred sound are emanating from the temple of your heart

Always blessing you, always saying, come rest in me

Always saying, go forth and love

Dwell here and be blessed

Come to this place and be blessed




This is the translation I did in 1992:



The One Who is at Play Everywhere said,

There is a place in the heart where everything meets.
Go there if you want to find me.
Mind, senses, soul, eternity, all are there.
Are you there?

Enter the bowl of vastness that is the heart.
Give yourself to it with total abandon,
listen to the song that is always resonating there.

Quiet ecstasy is there —
and a steady, regal sense of resting in a perfect spot.

Once you know the way
the nature of attention will call you to return,
again and again, and be saturated with knowing,
“I belong here, I am at home here.”
Answer that call.