उष्ट्रीव मधुनो बिन्दुं वाञ्छते भावितं सुखम् । अवान्तरपरिभ्रष्टा दोषाद् दोषं पतत्य् अधः
Like a she-camel longing for a drop of water, she desires imagined pleasure; having fallen from inner balance due to fault, she descends from one fault to another.
परं वैवश्यम् आयाति सङ्कटात् सङ्कटं गता । दुःखाद् दुःखे निपतिता विपदो विपदि स्थिता
She comes to utter helplessness, passing from one distress to another; falling from sorrow into sorrow, she stands amid calamity after calamity.
नानानर्थगणोपेता चेष्टापरवशाशया । कष्टात् कष्टम् अनुप्राप्ता परितापानुतापिनी
Endowed with countless misfortunes, her intentions subject to restless action, she moves from hardship to hardship, tormented and full of regret.
क्रमान् नवे नवे बन्धे ऽवैदग्ध्यं समुपागता । विचित्रबन्धनिर्माणपरा क्रिमिपदं गता
Gradually entering ever-new bonds, she loses her discernment; intent on creating strange new fetters, she reaches the state of a worm.
सर्वतश्शङ्करे भीता प्राणात्ययम् उपागता । क्षीणतोयेव शफरी विवर्तनपरायणा
Frightened on every side by danger, she comes near to the end of life; like a fish in drying water, she is given over to constant agitation.
बाल्ये विवशसर्वार्था यौवने चिन्तयाहृता । वार्द्धके मृतिदुःखात्ता मृता कर्मवशीकृता
In childhood, helpless in all things; in youth, seized by anxiety; in old age, struck by the pain of death; and in death, subject to the force of karma.
जायते दुःखशबला म्रियते जननोन्मुखी । करोत्य् आवेशविवशा निगिरत्य् आर्तिधारिणी
She is born marked by suffering, dies facing birth again; acting under compulsion, she devours and bears affliction.
गच्छति श्रमसन्तप्ता भवत्य् अम्बुदभङ्गुरा । रोदित्य् आक्रान्तहृदया पराक्रन्दति तापिता
She goes on, scorched by toil, and is as fragile as a water bubble; she weeps with a heart overcome, and cries out in distress.
अप्सरास् स्वर्गनगरे नागी पातालकोटरे । असुरी दैत्यविवरे नरस्त्री वसुधातले
An apsaras dwells in the city of heaven, a nāgī in the depths of the underworld, an asurī in the cavern of demons, and a human woman upon the surface of the earth.
राक्षसी राक्षसाधारे वानरी वनकोटरे । सिंही गिरीन्द्रशिखरे किन्नरी कुलपर्वते
A rākṣasī abides in the abode of rākṣasas, a she-monkey in the hollow of the forest, a lioness on the summit of the king of mountains, and a kinnari on a noble mountain.
विद्याधरी देवगिरौ व्याली चावनिगर्तके । लता तरौ खगी नीडे वीरुत् सानौ वने मृगी
A vidyādhari dwells on the divine mountain, a serpent-woman in a pit of the earth, a creeper on a tree, a bird in its nest, a shrub on a hill, and a doe in the forest.
शेते नारायणो ऽम्भोधौ ध्यानी ब्रह्मपुरे ऽब्जजः । कान्तासखो हरश् शैले स्वर्गे सुरवरो हरिः
Nārāyaṇa rests upon the ocean, the lotus-born meditates in the city of Brahmā, Śiva delights with his beloved on the mountain, and Hari, chief of the gods, in heaven.
दिनं करोति तीक्ष्णांशुर् वर्षत्य् अम्बुधरो जलम् । करोति रजनीम् इन्दुर् धत्ते नीरं महोदधिः
The sun with sharp rays creates the day, the rain-cloud pours down water, the moon brings forth the night, and the great ocean holds the waters.
ऋतुचक्रं प्रवहति सहकालर्क्षमण्डलम् । दिनरात्रितयोदेति तेजस्तिमिरता क्वचित्
The cycle of seasons moves along with the circuit of time and constellations; day and night arise, and at times there is light, at times darkness.
क्वचिद् बीजरसोल्लासः क्वचित् पाषाणमौनिनी । क्वचिन् नदी रसवहा क्वचित् कुसुमविस्तृतिः
Somewhere there is the exuberance of sap in seeds, elsewhere the silence of stones; in one place a river carries its waters, in another flowers spread in abundance.
क्वचित् फलावलीपाकः क्वचित् क्वाथो ऽनलादिभिः । क्वचिच् छैत्यं हिमेन्द्वादि क्वचित् खादि नकिञ्चन
In some places fruits ripen in clusters, elsewhere there is boiling by fire and the like; somewhere there is a stūpa of snow and so forth, elsewhere there is nothing at all.
क्वचिद् उज्ज्वलिताकारा क्वचित् कृष्णा क्वचित् सिता । क्वचिन् नीलाथ हरिता क्वचिद् अग्निः क्वचिन् मही
At times she appears radiant, at times dark, at times white; sometimes blue or green, sometimes as fire, sometimes as earth.
सर्वात्मत्वात् सर्वगत्वात् सर्वशक्तितयेद्धया । सर्वत्वाद् एकरूपैव खाद् अप्य् अच्छैव सा परा
Because she is the self of all, present everywhere, and endowed with all powers, she alone is the one form, pure even in the sky.
चिच् चिनोति यथात्मानं येन यत्र यथा यदा । तत् तथाशु भवत्य् अम्बुरयाद् वीच्यादिता यथा
As consciousness shapes itself—by whom, where, how, and when—so it quickly becomes, just as a wave arises from water.
हंसी क्रौञ्ची बकी काकी सरसीसारसी वृकी । पिकी बलाका हरिणी वानरी करिणी शुनी
A swan, a crane, a heron, a crow, a waterfowl, a vulture, a cuckoo, a stork, a deer, a monkey, an elephant, a dog—
चटिका वञ्जुली शारी मक्षिका षट्पदी शुकी । धीश् श्रीर् ह्रीः प्रीतिर् आर्तिश् च शवरी शर्वरी शशी
A sparrow, a wagtail, a starling, a bee, a butterfly, a parrot; intelligence, fortune, modesty, love, distress, a tribal woman, night, the moon—
एतास्व् अन्यासु चान्यासु परिभ्रमति योनिषु । विवर्तमाना संसारे जलावर्ते तृणं यथा
In these and other wombs she wanders, revolving in the cycle of existence, like a blade of grass caught in a whirlpool.
बिभेत्य् एषा स्वसङ्कल्पात् स्वशब्दाद् इव गर्दभी । नानया सदृग् अन्यास्ति मुग्धा बालाबला चला
She fears her own imagination, just as a she-ass fears her own bray; there is no other like her—foolish, childish, unsteady.
एषा सा कथिता तुभ्यं जीवशक्तिर् मया मुने । प्राकृताचारविवशा वराकी पशुधर्मिणी
This, O sage, is the life-force I have described to you—helpless, bound to natural ways, pitiable, and animal-like in nature.
कर्मात्मेत्य् अभिधां प्राप्ता शोच्यास्य परमात्मनः । अनन्तदुःखबहलं स्वयं सम्भ्रमम् आश्रिता
The supreme Self, which has come to be called the 'self of action,' is to be pitied, for it has taken upon itself endless suffering and confusion.
असद् एवानयाक्रान्तं विनाशि सहजं मलम् । तण्डुलेनेव कम्बूकम् अनन्यच् चान्यवत् स्थितम्
By this, the unreal, perishable impurity has overtaken it—just as rice-husk covers the grain—while it itself remains unchanged, like something else.
अनन्तविभवभ्रष्टा दौर्भाग्यपरितापिनी । शोचति प्राप्य जीवत्वं भर्तृहीनेव नायिका
Deprived of infinite glory, tormented by misfortune, it grieves upon attaining individuality, like a heroine bereft of her beloved.
जडरतेर् अवलोकय शक्ततां निजपदस्मरणेन विनेह यत् । व्रजति पृष्ठम् अधःपतनाय खाद् दुररघट्टघटीपुटपीठवत्
Behold how, without remembrance of its own true state, the power of inert attachment declines here; it moves backward toward a fall, like a bellows-pedal recoiling after being struck.
चिनोत्य् अलीकम् एवैवं दुःखितास्मीति भावनात् । चिद् वधूः क्षीवसुप्तैव पतितास्मीत्य् अलं यथा
Thus, by the mere thought 'I am miserable,' consciousness, like a bride feigning sleep, imagines what is unreal, saying 'I have fallen,' though nothing has happened.
अमृतैव मृतास्मीति विपर्यस्तमतिर् वधूः । यथा रोदित्य् अनष्टैव नष्टास्मीति तथैव चित्
Just as a bride, though alive, laments 'I am dead' due to her confused mind, so too does consciousness cry 'I am lost,' though nothing is lost.