न युक्तमधुना यन्मां विहाय त्रिदिवं गता । विलपन्तं पतिं दीनं पुत्रस्नेहेन यन्त्रिता
It is not right that you, compelled by motherly love, have left me, your grieving husband, and gone to heaven.
उभयं मे गतं कान्ते पुत्रास्त्वं प्राणवल्लभा । तथापि मरणं नास्ति दुःखितस्य भृशं प्रिये
O beloved, both my sons and you, dearer than life, are gone; yet, though I am deeply sorrowful, death does not come.
किं करोमि क्व गच्छामि रामो नास्ति महीतले । रामाविरहजं दुःखं जानाति रघुनन्दनः
What shall I do, where shall I go? There is no Rāma on earth; only Rāghava knows the pain of separation from Rāmā.
विधिना निष्ठुरेणात्र विपरीतं कृतं भुवि । दम्पत्योर्मरणं भिन्नं सर्वथा समचित्तयोः
By the cruel decree of fate, things have turned contrary in this world; the death of husband and wife, though united in heart, is always separate.
उपकारस्तु नारीणां मुनिभिर्विहितः किल । यदुक्तं धर्मशास्त्रेषु ज्वलनं पतिना सह
It is said by sages that the duty of women, as stated in the scriptures, is to enter the fire with their husband.
एवं विलपमानं तं राजानं भगवान्हरिः । निवारयामास तदा वचनैर्युक्तियोजितैः
As the king lamented thus, Bhagavān Hari restrained him with words full of reason.
श्रीभगवानुवाच किं विषीदसि राजेन्द्र क्व गता ते प्रियाङ्गना । न श्रुतं किं त्वया शास्त्रं न कृतोऽसौ बुधाश्रयः
The Blessed Lord said: Why do you grieve, O king? Where has your beloved gone? Have you not heard the scriptures? Have you not sought the wise?
का सा कस्त्वं क्व संयोगो वियोगः कीदृशस्तव । प्रवाहरूपे संसारे नृणां नौतरतामिव
Who is she? Who are you? What is this union, and what kind of separation is yours? In the current of worldly existence, people are like logs carried by the stream.
गृहे गच्छ नृपश्रेष्ठ वृथा ते रुदितेन किम् । संयोगश्च वियोगश्च दैवाधीनः सदा नृणाम्
Go home, O foremost of kings; what use is your weeping? Union and separation are always subject to fate for people.
अनया सह ते राजन् संयोगस्त्विह संवृतः । भुक्ता त्वया विशालाक्षी सुन्दरी तनुमध्यमा
With her, O king, your union here has been fulfilled; you have enjoyed the beautiful, wide-eyed, slender-waisted woman.
न दृष्टौ पितरावस्यास्त्वया प्राप्ता सरोवरे । काकतालीप्रसङ्गेन यद्भूतं तत्तथा गतम्
Her parents were not seen by you; she was found at the lake. By a chance encounter, what happened has happened.
मा शोकं कुरु राजेन्द्र कालो हि दुरतिक्रमः । कालयोगं समासाद्य भुङ्क्ष्व भोगान् गृहे यथा
Do not grieve, O king; time cannot be overcome. Having met with the destined time, enjoy pleasures at home as before.
यथागता गता सा तु तथैव वरवर्णिनी । यथा पूर्वं तथा तत्र गच्छ कार्यं कुरु प्रभो
She has departed just as she came, that woman of excellent complexion. As before, go there and fulfill your duties, O lord.
रुदितेन तवाद्यैव नागमिष्यति कामिनी । वृथा शोचसि पृध्वीश योगयुक्तो भवाधुना
Your beloved will not return today because of your weeping. You grieve in vain, O lord of the earth; now be united with yoga.
भोगः कालवशादेति तथैव प्रतियाति च । नात्र शोकस्तु कर्तव्यो निष्फले भववर्त्मनि
Pleasure comes and goes according to time; likewise, it departs. There should be no sorrow here on the fruitless path of worldly existence.
नैकत्र सुखसंयोगो दुःखयोगस्तु नैकतः । घटिकायन्त्रवत्कामं भ्रमणं सुखदुःखयोः
Happiness is not always found in one place, nor is sorrow always united. Like the movement of a water-clock, pleasure and pain wander at will.
मनः कृत्वा स्थिरं भूप कुरु राज्यं यथासुखम् । अथवा न्यस्य दायादे वनं सेवय साम्प्रतम्
Make your mind steady, O king, and rule your kingdom as you please; or else, entrust it to your heir and now serve the forest.
दुर्लभो मानुषो देहः प्राणिनां क्षणभङ्गुरः । तस्मिन्प्राप्ते तु कर्तव्यं सर्वथैवात्मसाधनम्
The human body is rare and fleeting for living beings; once attained, one must always strive for self-realization.
जिह्वोपस्थरसो राजन् पशुयोनिषु वर्तते । ज्ञानं मानुषदेहे वै नान्यासु च कुयोनिषु
Taste of tongue and sexual pleasure, O king, exist in animal births; knowledge is found only in the human body, not in other inferior births.
तस्माद्गच्छ गृहं त्यक्त्वा शोकं कान्तासमुद्भवम् । मायेयं भगवत्यास्तु यया सम्मोहितं जगत्
Therefore, go home, abandoning the grief arising from your beloved. This is the illusion of the Goddess, by which the world is deluded.
नारद उवाच इत्युक्तो हरिणा राजा प्रणम्य कमलापतिम् । कृत्वा स्नानविधिं सम्यग्जगाम निजमन्दिरम्
Nārada said: Thus addressed by Hari, the king bowed to the lotus-eyed Lord, performed the proper bathing rites, and went to his own palace.
दत्त्वा राज्यं स्वपौत्राय प्राप्य निर्वेदमद्भुतम् । वनं जगाम भूपालस्तत्त्वज्ञानमवाप च
Having given the kingdom to his grandson and attained wondrous detachment, the king went to the forest and obtained knowledge of the truth.
गते राजन्यहं वीक्ष्य भगवन्तमधोक्षजम् । तमब्रवं जगन्नाथं हसन्तं मां पुनः पुनः
When the king had departed, I beheld the blessed Lord Adhokṣaja. I spoke to the Lord of the universe, who smiled at me again and again.
वञ्चितोऽहं त्वया देव ज्ञातं मायाबलं महत् । स्मरामि चरितं सर्वं स्त्रीदेहे यत्कृतं मया
I have been deceived by you, O God; I have understood the great power of your illusion. I remember all the deeds I performed in the body of a woman.
ब्रूहि मे देवदेवेश प्रविष्टोऽहं सरोवरे । विगतं पूर्वविज्ञानं स्नानादेव कथं हरे
Tell me, O Lord of gods, having entered the lake, how did my previous knowledge vanish merely by bathing, O Hari?
योषिद्देहं समासाद्य मोहितोऽहं जगद्गुरो । पतिं प्राप्य नृपश्रेष्ठं पुलोमी वासवं यथा
Having attained the body of a woman, I was deluded, O teacher of the world; having obtained a husband, the foremost king, just as Pulomī obtained Vāsava.
मनस्तदेव तच्चित्तं देहः स च पुरातनः । लिङ्गं तदेव देवेश स्मृतेर्नाशः कथं हरे
O Lord of the gods, that mind, that awareness, and that ancient body—those remain the same; so how, O Hari, can there be destruction of memory?
विस्मयोऽयं महान्मेऽत्र ज्ञाननाशं प्रति प्रभो । कथयाद्य रमाकान्त कारणं परमं च यत्
O beloved of Lakshmi, I am greatly astonished about this loss of knowledge; tell me today the highest reason for it.
नारीदेहं मया प्राप्य भुक्ता भोगा ह्यनेकशः । सुरापानं कृतं नित्यं विधिहीनं च भोजनम्
Having obtained a female body, I enjoyed many pleasures; I drank liquor constantly and ate food without regard for rules.
मया तदेव न ज्ञातं नारदोऽहमिति स्फुटम् । जानाम्यद्य यथा सर्वं विविक्तं न तथा तदा
Yet I did not know then, clearly, that I was Narada; now I know everything distinctly, but not so at that time.