अयं मेरुः ककुप्पत्त्रजगत्पङ्कजकर्णिका । स्फुरदिन्दुमधूल्लासलम्पटामरषट्पदा
This Mount Meru is the central pericarp of the lotus-world, where the six-petaled bees of passion delight in the radiant nectar of the shining moon.
इयम् उद्दामसौगन्ध्या स्वर्गश्रीपुष्पमञ्जरी । जगज्जरढवृक्षस्य रजोनरकमूलिनः
This is the cluster of heavenly flowers, exuberant with fragrance, adorning the tree of the world, whose roots are sunk in the hell of darkness.
इयं च ताराकिञ्जल्का ब्रह्माण्डकतटस्थिता । अपारापारपर्यन्ता व्योमनीलसरोजिनी
And this is the pollen of stars, resting at the edge of the cosmic egg, extending to the farthest limits of the boundless blue-lotus sky.
इयं क्रियासरिद् वाततरङ्गतरणावली । सर्गावर्तविवर्तस्था भूरिभूतपरम्परा
This is the river of action, a succession of waves stirred by the wind, abiding in the whirlpools of creation, a vast lineage of countless beings.
इयं तमोभ्रमरिणी क्षणकल्पादिपल्लवा । तेजःकेसरिणी कालनलिनी व्योमपङ्कजा
This is the bee of darkness, with shoots of moments and aeons; the lion of fire, the lotus of time, the sky-born lotus.
इमा भावविकाराढ्या जरामृतिविषूचिकाः । विद्याविद्याविकाराढ्या इमाश् शास्त्रार्थदृष्टयः
These are the fevers of transformation—old age, death, and disease—rich in the modifications of existence; and these, full of the changes of knowledge and ignorance, are the various views of the meaning of the scriptures.
इति सा तस्य बिल्वस्य निजा मज्जाचमत्कृतिः । स्वकल्पसन्निवेशान्तर् एवैवंकृतसंस्थितिः
Thus, the marvel of that bilva tree's own inner essence abides, established only within the arrangements of its own imagination.
शान्ता स्वस्था निराबाधा सोम्येतरतयोज्झिता । कर्तृत्वम् अप्य् अकर्तृत्वं कृत्वा कृत्वैव संस्थिता
Peaceful, self-possessed, free from disturbance, untouched by duality, it remains established, having made both doership and non-doership its own.
एकैकिकैव विविधेव विभाव्यमाना नैकात्मिका न विविधा ननु सैव सैव । सत्यास्थिता सकलशान्तिसमैकरूपा सर्वात्मिकातिमहती चितिर् एव शक्तिः
Though it appears as many and various, it is not truly manifold nor of many natures; it is indeed the same, ever the same. Abiding in truth, of the nature of supreme peace and unity, this consciousness alone is the all-pervading, infinite power.
भगवन् सर्वधर्मज्ञ त्वयैषा बिल्वरूपिणी । महाचिद्घनसत्तेति कथितेति मतिर् मम
O Lord, knower of all dharmas, you have described this as the bilva fruit, as the mass of supreme consciousness; thus is my understanding.
चिन्मज्जरूपम् अखिलम् अहन्तादीदम् आततम् । न मनाग् अपि भेदो ऽस्ति द्वैतैक्यकलनात्मकः
All this, from the sense of 'I' onward, is pervaded by the essence of consciousness; there is not the slightest division, whether of duality or unity, in its nature.
यथा ब्रह्माण्डकूष्माण्डमज्जा मेर्वादिसंस्थितिः । तथा चिद्बिल्वमज्जेयं ब्रह्माण्डाद्या जगत्स्थितिः
Just as the yolk is within the shell of an egg, or as Mount Meru stands within the world, so too, within the bilva fruit of consciousness, is contained the existence of the universe, from the cosmic egg onward.
सृष्टिश् चिद्बिल्वमज्जस्य जगदाख्या चमत्कृतिः । स्थिता सुषुप्तसोम्यान्तस् शिलान्तस् सन्निवेशवत्
The creation arising from the core of the bilva of consciousness is called the world, a marvel; it remains, in deep sleep or in the stone's interior, as if in a state of latent arrangement.
अत्रेमाम् इन्दुवदन चित्रां विस्मयकारिणीम् । वर्ण्यमानां मया रम्याम् अन्याम् आख्यायिकां शृणु
Now, O moon-faced one, listen as I narrate to you another delightful and wondrous tale, charming and astonishing, which I shall describe.
स्निग्धा स्पष्टा मृदुस्पर्शा महाविस्तारशालिनी । निबिडा नित्यनीरन्ध्रा क्वचिद् अस्ति महाशिला
In it there is a great stone, smooth, clear, soft to the touch, vast in expanse, dense, ever unbroken, and without any fissure.
तस्याम् अन्तः प्रफुल्तानि पद्मानि सुबहून्य् अपि । कर्णिकाजातमूलानि मूलान्तःकर्णिकानि च । ऊर्ध्वमूलान्य् अधोमूलान्य् अमूलानीतराणि च
Within it, many lotuses bloom, their stalks and roots arising from the center, with roots above, roots below, rootless, and of other kinds as well.
तेषां च निकटे सन्ति शङ्खाश् शतसहस्रशः । चक्रौघाश् च महाकाराः पद्मवत् सन्निवेशिनः
Near them are countless conch shells, and great masses of discs, arranged in patterns like lotuses.
सत्यम् एतन् मया दृष्टा तादृशी सा महाशिला । सालिग्रामे हरेर् धाम्नि विद्यते परिवारिणी
Truly, I have seen such a great stone, surrounded by these, in Shaligrama, the abode of Hari.
एवम् एतद् विजानासि दृष्टवान् असि ताश् शिलाः । यो यश् च तत्र पाषाणस् स सर्वस् तादृगन्तरः
Thus you know this; you have seen those stones—whatever stone is there, all are of the same nature within.
मया त्व् इयम् अपूर्वैव शिलेयं वर्ण्यते तव । यस्याम् अन्तर् महाकुक्षौ सर्वम् अस्ति च नास्ति च
But now I describe to you this unique stone, within whose vast core everything both exists and does not exist.
चिच्छिलैषा मयोक्ता ते यस्याम् अन्तर् जगन्ति खे । घनत्वैकात्मकत्वादिवशाद् एषा शिलेव चित्
This is the conscious stone I spoke of, within which worlds float in space; due to its nature of compactness, it appears as a stone, yet it is consciousness.
अप्य् अत्यन्तघनाङ्गाया अनीरन्ध्राकृतेर् अपि । विद्यते ऽन्तः परं ब्रह्म व्योम्नीव विपुलानिलः
Even though its form is utterly solid and without any opening, within it exists the supreme Brahman, like vast air within the sky.
द्यौः क्षमा वायुर् आकाशं पर्वतास् सरितो दिशः । सन्ति तस्यां शिला सा च सुषिरा न मनाग् अपि
Heaven, earth, wind, space, mountains, rivers, and directions are all within that stone, yet the stone itself is not hollow in the least.
अस्याम् एकघनाङ्गात्म जगत्पद्मं विजृम्भते । एतस्माद् वस्तुनो नान्यद् अन्यच् च द्व्यात्मकं च वा
From this single, solid core, the lotus of the world unfolds; apart from this reality, there is nothing else—neither another nor a dual nature.
भूतं भव्यं भविष्यच् चिच्छिलायां सालभञ्जिका । तथास्ति तत्र तत् सर्वं संस्थानं वस्तुनो यथा
The past, present, and future exist in the stone as the image of the maiden on the sala tree; in that way, all forms are present there, just as the shape of an object is within it.
उपलान्तस् सन्निवेशो नानात्माप्य् एकपिण्डताम् । यथा धत्ते तथैषा चित् पिण्डाकारैकिका घना
Just as various arrangements of stones, though different in nature, appear as a single mass, so too does consciousness, though compact, seem to take the form of a single solid entity.
यथा पद्मश् शिलाकोशाद् अभिन्नो ऽपि वपुर्मयः । तथा सर्गश् चितो रूपाद् अभिन्नो ऽपि वपुर्मयः
Just as a lotus, though not separate from the stone matrix, is a form made of substance, so too is creation, though not different from the form of consciousness, a manifestation made of substance.
सुषुप्तावस्थया चक्रपद्मलेखाश् शिलोदरे । यथा स्थिताश् चितेर् अन्तस् तथेयं जगदावली
As in deep sleep, the outlines of wheels and lotuses remain within the stone, so too does this series of worlds exist within consciousness.
शिलान्तः पद्मलेखाली मरिचान्तश् चमत्कृतिः । नोदेति नास्तम् आयाति यथा सर्गस् तथा चितौ
Just as the lines of lotuses within the stone or the marvel within a ray do not arise or set, so too does creation not arise or cease within consciousness.
यथापरन्ध्रो ऽनन्यो ऽन्तर्मज्जा बिल्वे निरन्तरः । तथा लभ्यविकाराढ्या चितौ ब्रह्माण्डमण्डली
Just as the inner pulp is not different from the bilva fruit and is continuous within, so too is the cosmic sphere, endowed with all possible modifications, found within consciousness.