कालानिलबलोद्धूताज् जर्जराज् जीवितद्रुमात् । भोगपुष्पाणि दिवसपर्णानि निपतन्त्य् अधः
Shaken by the force of time's wind, the blossoms of pleasure—leaves of the days—fall from the decaying tree of life.
भोगभोगिश्रितेष्व् अन्तर् दुःखदर्दुरवारिषु । मनो मोहान्धकूपेषु दूरेषु विनिमज्जति
The mind sinks far away, immersed among the crocodiles of sorrowful waters, in the dark wells of delusion, within the haunts of pleasure-seekers.
नानानुरञ्जना स्पष्टा तृष्णा तरलपेलवा । चैत्यमग्नपताकेव दूरं समधिरोहति
Desires, fickle and unsubstantial, no longer clearly delight; like a temple flag carried off by the wind, they ascend far away.
अस्य संसारतन्त्रस्य बृहत्कालबिलास्पदः । जीविताशामयांस् तन्तून् अन्तकाखुर् निकृन्तति
In this machinery of worldly existence, the great pit of time is its foundation; the claw of death severs the threads of hope for life.
यौवनोत्फालकल्लोला बहलोल्लासफेनिला । परावर्तमहावर्ता याति जीवितदुर्नदी
The turbulent river of life, with its waves swelling with youth and frothing with exuberance, turns back upon itself in a great whirlpool.
कलाकुलकलत्कार्यकल्लोलकुलसङ्कुला । क्रियासरिद् अपर्यन्ता वहत्य् आकुलकोटरा
The river of action, crowded with the waves of countless activities and surging with the tumult of time, flows endlessly, its hollows filled with confusion.
अनन्ता बन्धुजनतानद्यो गम्भीरकोटरे । अजस्रं निपतन्त्य् एता वितते कालसागरे
The infinite streams of kin and companions, in their deep channels, ceaselessly pour forth into the vast ocean of time.
देहरत्नशलाकेयं नाशपङ्कार्णवोदरे । न ज्ञायते क्व मग्नेति तात जन्मनि जन्मनि
This body, a jewel-like casket, within the ocean of the mire of destruction, does not reveal where it is drawn, O dear one, in each and every birth.
चिन्ताचक्रे चिरं चञ्चच्चक्रिकाचारचञ्चुरे । चेतो भ्रमति सामुद्रे गर्तावर्ते तृणं यथा
The mind, long whirling in the wheel of thought, restless in its spinning, wanders in the ocean’s eddies like a blade of grass caught in a whirlpool.
उह्यमानम् अनन्तेषु चेतः कार्यमहोर्मिषु । क्षणम् एति न विश्रामं चिन्ताताण्डविताशयम्
Tossed among endless waves of powerful actions, the mind finds not a moment’s rest, its hope battered by the dance of thought.
इदं कृतं करोमीदं करिष्यामीदम् इत्य् अलम् । कलनाजालवलिता मूर्छिता मतिपक्षिणी
‘This is done, I will do this, I must do that’—thus, wrapped in a web of calculations, the bird of the mind is stupefied.
अयं सुहृद् अयं शत्रुर् इति द्वन्द्वमहामयः । विनिकृन्तति मर्माणि नवानीवोत्पलानि मे
‘This is a friend, this is an enemy’—such is the great disease of duality, which cuts into my vital parts like fresh lotus stalks.
चिन्तातुण्ड्या मदावर्तवीच्यैकनिचयं चरन् । क्षणाद् उच्छूनताम् एति मानमीनः क्षणात् क्षतिम्
The fish of pride, moving among the single heap of waves in the whirlpool of intoxication, is in a moment either swollen or destroyed by the beak of thought.
अनात्मीयानि दुःखानि बहून्य् एवंविधान्य् अलम् । आत्मबुद्ध्या विचिन्वानो जनो गच्छति दीनताम्
A person who, considering many such sufferings that are not truly their own as belonging to themselves, examines them with self-identification, falls into dejection.
बहुविधसुखदुःखमध्यपाती विततजरामरणप्रपातभग्नः । जगदुदरगिरौ लुठञ् जनो ऽयं गतरसपर्णवद् एति जर्जरत्वम्
This person, tossed amidst various pleasures and pains, shattered by the wide chasm of old age and death, rolling on the mountain that is the world’s belly, becomes worn out like a leaf bereft of sap.
एवं तौ कुशलप्रश्नं कृतवन्तौ परस्परम् । कालेनासाद्य विमलं ज्ञानं मोक्षं ततो गतौ
Thus, having asked each other skillful questions, the two, in due course, attained pure knowledge and thereby liberation.
अतो वच्मि महाबाहो यथा ज्ञानेतरा गतिः । नास्ति संसारतरणे पाशबद्धस्य चेतसः
Therefore, O mighty-armed one, I say: apart from knowledge, there is no other way for the mind bound by the fetters of saṃsāra to cross over.
इदं भव्यमतेर् दुःखम् अनन्तम् अपि पेलवम् । कुखगस्यातरो ऽम्भोधिस् सर्पारेर् गोष्पदायते
For one whose mind is noble, even endless suffering is light; for the one who has crossed the hollow of the heart, the ocean of serpents appears like a cow’s hoofprint.
देहातीता महात्मानश् चिन्मात्रे स्वात्मनि स्थिताः । दूरद् देहं हसन्ति स्वं प्रेक्ष्यार्को जनताम् इव
The great ones, who have gone beyond the body and are established in pure consciousness, look upon their own bodies from afar and laugh, just as the sun looks upon the people.
देहे दुःखिनि सङ्क्षुब्धे का नः क्षतिर् उपस्थिता । रथे विधुरिते भग्ने सारथेः केव खण्डना
When the body is suffering and disturbed, what harm truly comes to us? When a chariot is broken and ruined, what damage is there to the charioteer?
मनसि क्षुब्धतां याते चित्त्वस्याङ्ग किम् आगतम् । तरङ्गे रजसा म्लाने वैपरीत्यं किम् अम्बुधेः
When the mind is agitated, what truly happens to consciousness, O dear one? When a wave is sullied by dust, what reversal occurs to the ocean?
के भवन्त्य् अयसां हंसाः पयसाम् उपलाश् च के । काश् शिलाः किल दारूणां के भोगाः परमात्मनः
Who are the swans among iron, and who are the stones among waters? Which are the rocks among woods, and what enjoyments belong to the supreme Self?
सम्बन्धः क इवाग्राशाशैलापरसमुद्रयोः । अन्तरे दूरसम्बाधे कश् च चित्तत्त्वबन्धयोः
What connection exists between the peaks of hope and the other shore of the mountain and ocean? What is the bond between the essence of mind and its nature, in the midst of distant and close relations?
अप्य् उत्सङ्गोह्यमानानि काष्ठानि सरिदम्भसाम् । कानि नाम भवन्तीह शरीराणि तथात्मनः
Even when pieces of wood are carried by the waters of a river, which among them truly become bodies here, and likewise, which are the bodies of the Self?
सङ्घट्टात् काष्ठपयसां यथोत्तुङ्गाः कणादयः । देहात्मनोस् समायोगात् तथैताश् चित्तवृत्तयः
Just as from the collision of wood and water arise bubbles and other forms, so from the union of body and Self these mental modifications arise.
सम्बन्धाद् दारुपयसां प्रतिबिम्बानि दारुतः । यथा पयसि लक्ष्यन्ते शरीराणि तथात्मनि
From the association of wood and water, reflections appear in the wood, just as bodies are perceived in water; so too are bodies perceived in the Self.
यथा दर्पणवार्यादौ प्रतिबिम्बानि वस्तुतः । नासत्यानि न सत्यानि शरीराणि तथात्मनि
Just as reflections in a mirror or in water are neither truly real nor unreal, so too are bodies in the Self.
दारुवार्युपलास्फोटे दुःखिता न यथा क्वचित् । संयुक्तेषु वियुक्तेषु न तथा पञ्चसु क्षतिः
Just as there is no suffering anywhere from the breaking of wood, water, or stones, so too, whether united or separated, there is no harm among the five elements.
दारुसंवेल्लितात् तोयात् कम्पशब्दादयो यथा । प्रजायन्ते तथैवास्माद् देहाच् चित्परिबोधितात्
Just as from water shaken by wood arise trembling, sound, and other effects, so too from the body, stirred by consciousness, arise various manifestations.
न बुद्धजडयोर् एतास् संविदश् चिच्छरीरयोः । एता ह्य् अज्ञानमात्रस्य तस्मिन् नष्टे तद् एव ताः
These experiences do not belong to either the intellect or inert matter, both of which are forms of consciousness; they pertain only to mere ignorance, and when that is destroyed, they too cease.