या निशा सर्वभूतानां तस्यां जागर्ति संयमी ।यस्यां जाग्रति भूतानि सा निशा पश्यतो मुनेः ॥
yā niśā sarvabhūtānāṃ tasyāṃ jāgarti saṃyamī |yasyāṃ jāgrati bhūtāni sā niśā paśyato muneḥ ||
- या · yā
- which
- निशा · niśā
- night
- सर्वभूतानाम् · sarvabhūtānām
- for all beings
- तस्याम् · tasyām
- in that
- जागर्ति · jāgarti
- is awake, keeps vigil
- संयमी · saṃyamī
- the self-controlled one
- यस्याम् · yasyām
- in which
- जाग्रति · jāgrati
- are awake
- भूतानि · bhūtāni
- beings
- सा · sā
- that
- निशा · niśā
- night
- पश्यतः · paśyataḥ
- for the seeing one
- मुनेः · muneḥ
- for the sage
“What is night for all beings, in that the self-controlled one is awake; and what beings wake to, is night for the seeing sage.”
— Original plain-language translation
IN SHORT Do not chase what excites everyone else; stay awake to what truly matters.
The perfect chiasmus: sage and world keep opposite hours. What the world sleeps through (the self), the sage watches; what the world chases wide-awake (sense-life), the sage sleeps through. Enlightenment as a reversed schedule. Like a night-shift guard awake while the city sleeps, resting while others rush to work.
— Reader's notes (original)