गतं धनं करौ छिन्नाव् अवशिष्टो शुभिर् भवान् त्वम् अन्यथा यदि ब्रूष आहरिष्ये ऽसिना शिरः
Your wealth is gone, your hands are severed, and you remain only with your virtues. If you say otherwise, I will cut off your head with my sword.
विहस्य पुनर् आहेदं वैश्यो गौतमम् अञ्जसा
The merchant laughed and then spoke plainly to Gautama.
धर्मम् एव परं मन्ये यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ब्राह्मणांश् च गुरून् देवान् वेदान् धर्मं जनार्दनम्
I consider righteousness to be supreme; do as you wish. The Brahmins, teachers, gods, Vedas, righteousness, and Janardana—all these I revere.
यस् तु निन्दयते पापो नासौ स्पृश्यो ऽथ पापकृत् उपेक्षणीयो दुर्वृत्तः पापात्मा धर्मदूषकः
But he who reviles them is sinful; such a wrongdoer should not be touched. The wicked, the evil-minded, the corrupter of righteousness—he is to be shunned.
ततः प्राह स कोपेन धर्मं यद्य् अनुशंससि आवयोः प्राणयोर् अत्र पणः स्याद् इति वै मुने
Then, in anger, he said, 'If you praise righteousness, let the wager between us be for our very lives, O sage.'
एवम् उक्ते गौतमेन तथेत्य् आह वणिक् तदा पुनर् अप्य् ऊचतुर् उभौ लोकांल् लोकास् तथोचिरे
When Gautama said this, the merchant replied, 'So be it.' Again, both spoke to the people, and the people responded accordingly.
योगेश्वरस्य पुरतो गौतम्या दक्षिणे तटे तं निपात्य विशं विप्रश् चक्षुर् उत्पाट्य चाब्रवीत्
Before the Lord of Yoga, on the southern bank of the Ganges, Gautama struck him down; the Brahmin gouged out his eye and spoke.
गतो ऽसीमां दशां वैश्य नित्यं धर्मप्रशंसया गतं धनं गतं चक्षुश् छेदितौ करपल्लवौ पृष्टो ऽसि मित्र गच्छामि मैवं ब्रूयाः कथान्तरे
O merchant, by your constant praise of righteousness you have reached this state: your wealth is gone, your eye is lost, your tender hands are severed. You have been questioned, friend; I am leaving. Do not speak thus in another tale.
तस्मिन् प्रयाते वैश्यो ऽसौ चिन्तयाम् आस चेतसि हा कष्टं मे किम् अभवद् धर्मैकमनसो हरे
When he had departed, the merchant pondered in his mind, 'Alas, what misery has befallen me, O Hari, who am devoted solely to righteousness?'
स कुण्डलो वणिक्श्रेष्ठो निर्धनो गतबाहुकः गतनेत्रः शुचं प्राप्तो धर्मम् एवानुसंस्मरन्
That merchant chief, now poor, armless, and blind, was overcome with grief, yet continued to remember only righteousness.
एवं बहुविधां चिन्तां कुर्वन्न् आस्ते महीतले निश्चेष्टो ऽथ निरुत्साहः पतितः शोकसागरे
Thus, engaging in many kinds of thoughts, he remains on the earth, motionless and dispirited, fallen into the ocean of sorrow.
दिनावसाने शर्वर्याम् उदिते चन्द्रमण्डले एकादश्यां शुक्लपक्षे तत्रायाति विभीषणः
At the end of the day, during the night when the moon rises, on the eleventh day of the bright fortnight, Vibhīṣaṇa arrives there.
स तु योगेश्वरं देवं पूजयित्वा यथाविधि स्नात्वा तु गौतमीं गङ्गां सपुत्रो राक्षसैर् वृतः
Having worshipped the Lord of Yoga as prescribed, and having bathed in the Gautamī Gaṅgā, Vibhīṣaṇa, together with his son and surrounded by Rākṣasas, came.
विभीषणस्य हि सुतो विभीषण इवापरः वैभीषणिर् इति ख्यातस् तम् अपश्यद् उवाच ह
Indeed, Vibhīṣaṇa’s son, renowned as Vaibhīṣaṇi, another Vibhīṣaṇa in form, saw him and spoke.
वैश्यस्य वचनं श्रुत्वा यथावृत्तं स धर्मवित् पित्रे निवेदयाम् आस लङ्केशाय महात्मने स तु लङ्केश्वरः प्राह पुत्रं प्रीत्या गुणाकरम्
Hearing the merchant’s words as they occurred, that righteous son reported everything to his father, the great-souled Lord of Laṅkā; and the Lord of Laṅkā, pleased, spoke to his virtuous son.
श्रीमान् रामो मम गुरुस् तस्य मान्यः सखा मम हनुमान् इति विख्यातस् तेनानीतो गिरिर् महान्
The illustrious Rāma is my teacher, and Hanumān, who is renowned, is his honored friend and mine; by him, the great mountain was brought.
पुरा कार्यान्तरे प्राप्ते सर्वौषध्याश्रयो ऽचलः जाते कार्ये तम् आदाय हिमवन्तम् अथागमत्
Long ago, when another task arose, that mountain, the refuge of all herbs, was brought by him to Himavat when the need arose.
विशल्यकरणी चेति मृतसंजीवनीति च तदानीय महाबुद्धी रामायाक्लिष्टकर्मणे
He, of great intelligence, brought the Viśalyakaraṇī and the Mṛtasaṃjīvanī, for Rāma, whose actions are unwearied.
निवेदयित्वा तत् साध्यं तस्मिन् वृत्ते समागतः पुनर् गिरिं समादाय आगच्छद् देवपर्वतम्
Having accomplished that task and reported it, when the event was complete, he took the mountain again and returned to the divine mountain.
ताम् आनीयास्य हृदये निवेशय हरिं स्मरन् ततः प्राप्स्यत्य् अयं सर्वम् अपेक्षितम् उदारधीः
Bring that herb and place it in his heart, remembering Hari; then this noble-minded one will obtain all that he desires.
गच्छतस् तस्य वेगेन विशल्यकरणी पुनः अपतद् गौतमीतीरे यत्र योगेश्वरो हरिः
As he went swiftly, the Viśalyakaraṇī again fell on the bank of the Gautamī, where Hari, the Lord of Yoga, was.
ताम् ओषधीं मम पितर् दर्शयाशु विलम्ब मा परार्तिशमनाद् अन्यच् छ्रेयो न भुवनत्रये
Show that herb quickly to my father, do not delay; apart from relieving another’s suffering, there is no greater good in the three worlds.
विभीषणस् तथेत्य् उक्त्वा तां पुत्रस्याप्य् अदर्शयत् इषे त्वेत्य् अस्य वृक्षस्य शाखां चिच्छेद तत्सुतः वैश्यस्य चापि वै प्रीत्या सन्तः परहिते रताः
Vibhīṣaṇa, having said ‘so be it’, showed it also to his son; ‘Take it,’ he said, and his son cut a branch of that tree; and out of affection for the merchant, the virtuous, devoted to the welfare of others, did so.
यत्रापतन् नगे चास्मिन् स वृक्षस् तु प्रतापवान् तस्य शाखां समादाय हृदये ऽस्य निवेशय तत्स्पृष्टमात्र एवासौ स्वकं रूपम् अवाप्नुयात्
Where that powerful tree had fallen on the mountain, taking its branch, place it in his heart; by merely touching it, he would regain his own form.
एतच् छ्रुत्वा पितुर् वाक्यं वैभीषणिर् उदारधीः तथा चकार वै सम्यक् काष्ठखण्डं न्यवेशयत्
Hearing these words of his father, Vaibhīṣaṇi, noble-minded, did exactly so and placed the piece of wood accordingly.
हृदये स तु वैश्यो ऽपि सचक्षुः सकरो ऽभवत् मणिमन्त्रौषधीनां हि वीर्यं को ऽपि न बुध्यते
Then the merchant, with his sight restored, became whole again; for the potency of gems, mantras, and herbs is not easily understood by anyone.
तद् एव काष्ठम् आदाय धर्मम् एवानुसंस्मरन् स्नात्वा तु गौतमीं गङ्गां तथा योगेश्वरं हरिम्
Taking that very piece of wood, remembering only righteousness, he bathed in the Gautamī Gaṅgā and worshipped Hari, the Lord of Yoga.
नमस्कृत्वा पुनर् अगात् काष्ठखण्डेन वैश्यकः परिभ्रमन् नृपपुरं महापुरम् इति श्रुतम्
Having bowed, the merchant departed again with the piece of wood, wandering through the great city known as Nṛpapura.
महाराज इति ख्यातस् तत्र राजा महाबलः तस्य नास्ति सुतः कश्चित् पुत्रिका नष्टलोचना
There was a king known as Mahārāja, a ruler of great might; he had no son, only a daughter who had lost her eyesight.
सैव तस्य सुता पुत्रस् तस्यापि व्रतम् ईदृशम् देवो वा दानवो वापि ब्राह्मणः क्षत्रियो भवेत्
That daughter was his only child, and she too undertook such a vow: whether god, demon, brāhmaṇa, or kṣatriya—whoever he might be—