रश्मिजालम् इवादित्यस् तत्कालं संनियच्छति एवम् एवैष तत् सर्वं क्रीडार्थम् अभिमन्यते
Just as the sun withdraws its rays at that time, so too does He gather all this unto Himself, regarding it all as play.
आत्मरूपगुणान् एतान् विविधान् हृदयप्रियान् एवम् एतां प्रकुर्वाणः सर्गप्रलयधर्मिणीम्
Thus, performing these manifold qualities and forms of the self, dear to the heart, He brings about creation and dissolution.
क्रियां क्रियापथे रक्तस् त्रिगुणस् त्रिगुणाधिपः क्रियाक्रियापथोपेतस् तथा तद् इति मन्यते
Attached to action on the path of action, the threefold one, lord of the three qualities, endowed with both action and inaction, thus considers it to be so.
प्रकृत्या सर्वम् एवेदं जगद् अन्धीकृतं विभो रजसा तमसा चैव व्याप्तं सर्वम् अनेकधा
By Prakriti, all this world is indeed obscured, O mighty one, pervaded everywhere in many ways by rajas and tamas.
एवं द्वंद्वान्य् अतीतानि मम वर्तन्ति नित्यशः मत्त एतानि जायन्ते प्रलये यान्ति माम् अपि
Thus, these pairs of opposites, having been transcended, abide in Me eternally; from Me they arise, and at dissolution, they return to Me as well.
निस्तर्तव्याण्य् अथैतानि सर्वाणीति नराधिप मन्यते पक्षबुद्धित्वात् तथैव सुकृतान्य् अपि
These, O king, are to be crossed over, he thinks, because of his partial understanding; likewise, even good deeds are thought of in this way.
भोक्तव्यानि ममैतानि देवलोकगतेन वै इहैव चैनं भोक्ष्यामि शुभाशुभफलोदयम्
These are to be enjoyed by Me, by one who has reached the world of the gods; and here itself, I shall enjoy the arising of both auspicious and inauspicious fruits.
सुखम् एवं तु कर्तव्यं सकृत् कृत्वा सुखं मम यावद् एव तु मे सौख्यं जात्यां जात्यां भविष्यति
Thus, happiness alone should be pursued; having once attained happiness for Myself, as long as My happiness endures, so it will be in each birth.
भविष्यति न मे दुःखं कृतेनेहाप्य् अनन्तकम् सुखदुःखं हि मानुष्यं निरये चापि मज्जनम्
There will not be endless suffering for me here, even from actions performed; for human life is a mixture of pleasure and pain, and also immersion in hell.
निरयाच् चापि मानुष्यं कालेनैष्याम्य् अहं पुनः मनुष्यत्वाच् च देवत्वं देवत्वात् पौरुषं पुनः
From hell, in due course, I will again attain human birth; from humanity, divinity; and from divinity, manhood once more.
मनुष्यत्वाच् च निरयं पर्यायेणोपगच्छति एष एवं द्विजातीनाम् आत्मा वै स गुणैर् वृतः
From humanity, one also attains hell in turn; thus, the soul of twice-born beings, enveloped by qualities, continues.
तेन देवमनुष्येषु निरयं चोपपद्यते ममत्वेनावृतो नित्यं तत्रैव परिवर्तते
By that, among gods and humans, and also in hell, one is born; ever covered by attachment, one revolves there continually.
सर्गकोटिसहस्राणि मरणान्तासु मूर्तिषु य एवं कुरुते कर्म शुभाशुभफलात्मकम्
For thousands of cycles of creation, in forms ending with death, whoever acts thus, with deeds yielding good and evil fruits—
स एवं फलम् आप्नोति त्रिषु लोकेषु मूर्तिमान् प्रकृतिः कुरुते कर्म शुभाशुभफलात्मकम्
He thus obtains the result, embodied in the three worlds; nature performs actions that yield both auspicious and inauspicious fruits.
प्रकृतिश् च तथाप्नोति त्रिषु लोकेषु कामगा तिर्यग्योनिमनुष्यत्वे देवलोके तथैव च
And nature likewise attains, in the three worlds, forms born of desire: in animal wombs, in human existence, and likewise in the realm of the gods.
त्रीणि स्थानानि चैतानि जानीयात् प्राकृतानि ह अलिङ्गप्रकृतित्वाच् च लिङ्गैर् अप्य् अनुमीयते
One should know these three states as natural; and because of the unmanifest nature, they are inferred even by their marks.
तथैव पौरुषं लिङ्गम् अनुमानाद् धि मन्यते स लिङ्गान्तरम् आसाद्य प्राकृतं लिङ्गम् अव्रणम्
In the same way, the mark of manhood is inferred by reasoning; having attained another mark, the natural mark is unblemished.
व्रणद्वाराण्य् अधिष्ठाय कर्माण्य् आत्मनि मन्यते श्रोत्रादीनि तु सर्वाणि पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रियाण्य् अथ
Presiding over the doors of the senses, he considers actions as his own; and all the sense organs, beginning with hearing, are the five organs of action.
रागादीनि प्रवर्तन्ते गुणेष्व् इह गुणैः सह अहम् एतानि वै कुर्वन् ममैतानीन्द्रियाणि ह
Attachments and the like arise here among the qualities, together with the qualities; I, indeed, performing these, consider these sense organs as mine.
निरिन्द्रियो हि मन्येत व्रणवान् अस्मि निर्व्रणः अलिङ्गो लिङ्गम् आत्मानम् अकालं कालम् आत्मनः
He thinks himself devoid of senses, wounded or unwounded; the self, without marks, considers itself as marked, timeless or time-bound.
असत्त्वं सत्त्वम् आत्मानम् अमृतं मृतम् आत्मनः अमृत्युं मृत्युम् आत्मानम् अचरं चरम् आत्मनः
He considers himself as non-being or being, immortal or mortal, deathless or subject to death, unmoving or moving.
अक्षेत्रं क्षेत्रम् आत्मानम् असङ्गं सङ्गम् आत्मनः अतत्त्वं तत्त्वम् आत्मानम् अभवं भवम् आत्मनः
He considers himself as fieldless or as a field, unattached or attached, unreal or real, non-existence or existence.
अक्षरं क्षरम् आत्मानम् अबुद्धत्वाद् धि मन्यते एवम् अप्रतिबुद्धत्वाद् अबुद्धजनसेवनात्
He considers himself as imperishable or perishable, due to lack of understanding; thus, from lack of awakening and association with the unwise.
सर्गकोटिसहस्राणि पतनान्तानि गच्छति जन्मान्तरसहस्राणि मरणान्तानि गच्छति
He passes through thousands of cycles of creation ending in downfall, and thousands of births ending in death.
तिर्यग्योनिमनुष्यत्वे देवलोके तथैव च चन्द्रमा इव कोशानां पुनस् तत्र सहस्रशः
In animal wombs, in human existence, and likewise in the world of the gods, just as the moon among its phases, so again there by the thousands.
नीयते ऽप्रतिबुद्धत्वाद् एवम् एव कुबुद्धिमान् कला पञ्चदशी योनिस् तद् धाम इति पठ्यते
He is led, due to lack of awakening, in just this way, being of distorted understanding; the fifteenth phase is called the womb, that is said to be the abode.
नित्यम् एव विजानीहि सोमं वै षोडशांशकैः कलया जायते ऽजस्रं पुनः पुनर् अबुद्धिमान्
Always understand that Soma is produced by the sixteen parts of the lunar phases; again and again, the unwise is born.
धीमांश् चायं न भवति नृप एवं हि जायते षोडशी तु कला सूक्ष्मा स सोम उपधार्यताम्
But this one is not wise, O king; thus the subtle sixteenth part is to be considered as Soma.
न तूपयुज्यते देवैर् देवान् अपि युनक्ति सः ममत्वं क्षपयित्वा तु जायते नृपसत्तम प्रकृतेस् त्रिगुणायास् तु स एव त्रिगुणो भवेत्
It is not used by the gods, yet it connects even the gods; after destroying possessiveness, O best of kings, it is born. From the nature of the three qualities, it becomes threefold.
अक्षरक्षरयोर् एष द्वयोः संबन्ध इष्यते स्त्रीपुंसयोर् वा संबन्धः स वै पुरुष उच्यते
The connection between the imperishable and the perishable is accepted; or the connection between female and male—this is called the person.