महदाद्या विशेषान्ता विकाराः प्राकृताः स्वयम्
The modifications, beginning with the great and ending with the particular, are themselves natural.
नदीभिश्च समुद्रैश्च पर्वतैश्च सहस्रशः
With rivers, with oceans, and with mountains by the thousands.
अस्मिन् ब्रह्मवने ऽव्यक्तो ब्रह्मा चरति सर्ववित्
In this Brahma-forest, the unmanifest Brahmā moves, all-knowing.
बुद्धिस्कन्धमयश्चैव इन्द्रियान्तरकोटरः
And indeed, the aggregate of intellect, with the cavity of the inner senses.
धर्माधर्मसुपुष्पस्तु सुखदुःखफलोदयः
Righteousness and unrighteousness, well-flowered, yield the fruits of pleasure and pain.
एतद्ब्रह्मवनं चैव ब्रह्मवृक्षस्य तस्य तत्
And this is the Brahma-forest, belonging to that Brahma-tree.
प्रधानं प्रकृतिंमायां चैवाहुस्तत्त्वचिन्तकाः
Those who contemplate the principles call it the primordial substance, nature, and illusion.
अबुद्धिपूर्वकाः सर्गा ब्रह्मणः प्राकृतास्त्रयः
The three primal creations of Brahma are without conscious intention.
वैकल्पात्संप्रवर्तन्ते ब्रह्मणस्तेभिमन्यवः
From differentiation, those creations proceed, and Brahma is considered their origin.
सर्गाः परस्परोत्पन्नाः कारणं तु बुधैः स्मृतम्
The creations arise from one another; the wise recognize the cause.
दिशः श्रोत्रे विद्धि पादौ क्षितिं च सो ऽचिन्त्यात्मा सर्वभूतप्रणेता
Know the directions as his ears, the earth as his feet; he, of inconceivable nature, is the mover of all beings.
वैश्या ऊरुभ्यां यस्य पद्भ्यां च शूद्राःसर्वेवर्णा गात्रतः संप्रसूताः
From his thighs came the Vaiśyas, from his feet the Śūdras; all castes are born from his body.
अण्डजस्तु स्वयं ब्रह्मा लोकास्तेन कृताः स्वयम्
Brahma himself is born from the egg, and by him the worlds are created.
ते लोका ब्रह्मलोकं वै अपरावर्तिनीं गतिम्
Those worlds attain the realm of Brahma, the path from which there is no return.
भवन्ति ब्रह्मणा तुल्या रूपेण विषयेण च
They become equal to Brahma, both in form and in domain.
अवश्यंभाविनार्थेन प्राकृतं तनुते स्वयम्
By the force of what must come to be, the primordial is extended by itself.
स्वपतो ऽबुद्धिपूर्व हि बोधो भवति वै यथा
Just as, even in sleep, awareness arises without conscious intent.
प्रत्याहारैस्तु भेदानां तेषां हि न तु शुष्मिणाम्
By withdrawal, the distinctions among them cease, but not for those full of energy.
नानात्वदर्शिनां तेषां ब्रह्मलोकनिवासिनाम्
Among those who perceive diversity, who dwell in the world of Brahma.
तुल्यलक्षण सिद्धास्तु शुभात्मानो निरञ्जनाः
Those perfected ones, possessing equal characteristics, are pure in essence and free from stain.
प्रस्थापयित्वा चात्मानं प्रकृतिस्त्वेष तत्तवतः
Having dispatched itself, nature acts according to this principle.
प्रवर्तते पुनः सर्गस्तेषां साकारणात्मनाम्
Again, creation proceeds for those whose selves are with cause.
तत्रोपवर्गिणी तेषामपुनर्भारगामिनाम्
Among them, there is the path of liberation for those who do not return to rebirth.
ततरतेषु गतेषूर्द्धं त्रैलोक्यात्तु मुदात्मसु
When they have gone above, rejoicing souls depart from the three worlds.
तच्छिष्या ये ह तिष्ठन्ति कल्पदाह उपस्थिते
Those disciples who remain at the time of the destruction of the kalpa,
पशवः पक्षिणश्चैव स्थावराः ससरीसृपाः
as well as the animals, birds, plants, and reptiles,
सहस्रंयत्तु रश्मीनां सूर्यस्येह विनश्यति
when a thousand rays of the sun are destroyed here,
क्रमेण शतमानास्ते त्रींल्लोकान्प्रदहन्त्युत
then, in succession, those with a hundred rays burn the three worlds indeed.
शुष्के पूर्वमनावृष्ट्या चैस्तैशचैव प्रतापिताः
Dried up first by lack of rain and scorched by them,
जङ्गमाः स्थावराश्चैव धर्माधर्मादिकास्तु वै
the moving and unmoving beings, along with all forms of righteousness and unrighteousness,