ये नरा दुःखसन्तप्तास्तपस्तीव्रं समाश्रिताः
Those men who are afflicted by suffering and have taken refuge in intense austerity,
मनसा निश्चितात्मानस्त्यक्त्वा सर्वप्रियाप्रियम्
Having resolved their minds, they abandon all that is dear and not dear.
श्रुता लोके श्रुतिस्तात श्रेयोधर्मा हि नित्यशः
O dear one, the tradition has been heard in the world; indeed, the path of virtue is always superior.
कस्यैतच्चेष्टितं तात कर्त्ता कारयितापि वा
Whose action is this, O dear one? Who is the doer or the instigator?
कं वा द्वेषं पुरस्कृत्य मतिस्तस्य प्रवर्त्तते
By harboring what hatred does his mind act in this way?
यद्येवं तु मया गुह्यं दुर्विज्ञेयं सुरैरपि
If so, then by me a secret, difficult to comprehend even for the gods, is being asked.
नारदेनैवमुक्तस्तु धर्मराजो महामनाः
Thus addressed by Narada, the great-minded king of righteousness,
यम उवाच त्वदुक्त्या मे कथयतः शृणुष्वावहितोऽनघ ।। 210.
Yama spoke: By your words, I shall tell you; listen attentively, O sinless one.
न कश्चिद्दृश्यते लोके कर्त्ता कारयितापि वा
No one is seen in the world as the doer or the instigator.
यस्य वै कीर्त्त्यते नाम येन चाज्ञाप्यते जगत्
Whose name is praised, by whom the world is commanded,
दिव्येऽस्मिन् सदसि ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मर्षिगणसंवृते
In this divine assembly, O Brahman, surrounded by the hosts of Brahmarshis,
स्वकर्म भुज्यते तात सम्भूतैर्यत्कृतं स्वयम्
Each one experiences his own actions, O dear one, which have arisen and been performed by himself.
वायुना भाविता संज्ञा संसारे सा दृढीकृता
The consciousness shaped by the wind is firmly established in worldly existence.
अभिघाताभिभूतस्तु आत्मनात्मानमुद्धरेत्
Even when overwhelmed by affliction, one should uplift oneself by one's own self.
बन्धुं बन्धुपरिक्लेशं निर्मितं पूर्वकर्मभिः
A relative, a source of affliction to relatives, is created by previous actions.
मिथ्याप्रवृत्तः शब्दोऽयं जगद्भ्रमति सर्वशः
This word, set in motion falsely, causes the world to wander in every way.
यथा यथा क्षयं याति ह्यशुभं पुरुषस्य वै
Just as, little by little, the inauspicious of a person comes to an end,
संसारे प्राप्तदोषस्य जायमानस्य देहिनः 210.
for the embodied being, born into the world, who has acquired faults,
शुभाशुभकरीं बुद्धिं लभते पौर्वदैहिकीम् क्लेशक्षयं पापहरं शुभं कर्म करोत्यथ
he attains an intellect inclined to good and evil, shaped by previous bodies; when suffering is exhausted, he performs virtuous deeds that remove sin.
शुभाशुभं नरः प्राप्य कर्माकर्म तथैव च
A man, having obtained good and evil, likewise performs action and inaction.
स्वर्गः शुभफलप्राप्तिर्निरयः पापसंभवः
Heaven is the attainment of good results; hell arises from sin.
नारद उवाच शुभस्येह भवेदवृद्धिरशुभस्य क्षयोऽपि वा
Nārada said: In this world, can there be a decrease of merit or perhaps a destruction of demerit?
मनसा कर्मणा वापि तपसा चरितेन वा
By mind, by action, or by austerity, or by conduct,
यम उवाच कीर्त्तयिष्यामि ते सम्यक्पापदोषक्षयं सदा
Yama said: I shall properly declare to you the destruction of sin and fault, always.
प्रणम्य शिरसा सम्यक्पापपुण्यकराय च
Having bowed with my head to Him who is the cause of both sin and merit,
येन सृष्टमिदं सर्वं त्रैलोक्यं सचराचरम्
by whom all this, the three worlds with the moving and unmoving, was created,
यः समः सर्वभूतेषु जितात्मा शान्तमानसः
who is equal toward all beings, self-controlled, with a peaceful mind,
तत्त्वार्थं वेत्ति यः सम्यक्पुरुषं प्रकृतिं तथा 210.
who truly knows the reality of the principle, the person, and also nature,
गुणागुणपरिज्ञाता ह्यक्षयस्य क्षयस्य च
who knows both the qualities and the absence of qualities, of the imperishable and the perishable,
स्वदेहे परदेहे च सुखदुःखेन नित्यशः
in his own body and in another's, always through pleasure and pain,