सर्वत्यागमणाव् एवं गते कमललोचन । तपःकाचमणिर् दृष्टस् त्वया सङ्कल्पचक्षुषा
O lotus-eyed one, when the jewel of complete renunciation had reached such a state, you beheld the crystal of asceticism with the eye of intention.
त्वया तस्मिंस् तपस्य् एव दुःखे दृष्टिभ्रमोदिते । ग्राह्यैकभावना बद्धा जलेन्दौ शिशुना यथा
In that asceticism, which was itself suffering and born of a deluded vision, you fixed your mind on grasping only one thing, like a child intent on catching the moon in water.
अवासनम् अनारभ्य कृतानन्दा सवासना । आद्यन्तमध्यविषमा दुःखायैव तपःक्रिया
Without abandoning latent tendencies, and without truly beginning, you performed ascetic practices filled with desires; uneven at the beginning, middle, and end, such austerity leads only to suffering.
अमितानन्दम् उत्सृज्य सुसाधं यः प्रवर्तते । मिते वस्तुनि दुस्साधे स्वात्महा स शठस् स्मृतः
He who, abandoning boundless bliss, pursues what is difficult to attain in a limited thing, is called a fool who deceives himself.
सर्वत्यागस् समारभ्य न विनिष्पादितस् त्वया । तपोदुःखैकतज्ज्ञेन बद्धेन वनसद्मनि
You did not accomplish complete renunciation, but, knowing only the suffering of asceticism, you bound yourself in the forest dwelling.
राज्यबन्धाद् विनिष्क्रम्य गजवद् दुःखपूरिते । वनवासाभिधे साधो बद्धो ऽसि दृढबन्धने
Having left the bondage of kingship, O noble one, you became firmly bound in the so-called forest life, filled with suffering like an elephant.
द्विगुणा एव ते चिन्ताश् शीतवातातपादयः । बन्धनाद् अधिकं मन्ये वनवासम् अजानतः
Your anxieties have doubled—cold, wind, heat, and the rest; I consider forest life, for one ignorant of bondage, to be a greater fetter.
चिन्तामणिर् मया प्राप्त इत्य् अलं बुद्धवान् असि । न लब्धवान् भवान् साधो स्फटिकस्यापि खण्डिकाम्
You think, 'I have attained the wish-fulfilling jewel,' but truly, O noble one, you have not even obtained a fragment of crystal.
इत्य् एतद् अङ्ग मणियत्नकथासमानं सम्यङ् मया प्रकटितं तव पद्मनेत्र । उद्बोध्य बोधम् अमलं स्वयम् एव बुद्ध्या यद् वच्मि तत् परिणतिं कुरु चित्तकोशे
Thus, O lotus-eyed one, I have clearly explained this matter to you, with care, just as one would tell a precious tale. Awaken pure understanding within yourself by your own discernment; whatever I say, bring it to fruition in the treasury of your mind.
इदानीं राजशार्दूल वस्तुसम्प्रतिपत्तये । शृणु विन्ध्येभवृत्तान्तविवृतिं स्मयकारिणीम्
Now, O best of kings, in order to grasp the true nature of things, listen to the delightful account of what happened in the Vindhya forest.
यो ऽसौ विन्ध्यवने हस्ती सो ऽस्मिन् भूमितले भवान् । यौ वैराग्यविवेकौ ते तौ तस्य दशनौ शितौ
That elephant in the Vindhya forest is you upon this earth; and those two sharp tusks of his are your dispassion and discernment.
यश् चासौ वारणाक्रान्तितत्परो हस्तिपस् स्थितः । तद् अज्ञानं त्वदाक्रान्तितत्परं तव दुःखदम्
And just as there is one intent on subduing the elephant, standing as the elephant-keeper, so too is ignorance intent on subduing you, bringing you suffering.
अतिशक्तो ऽप्य् अशक्तेन दुःखाद् दुःखं भयाद् भयम् । हस्ती हस्तिपकेनेव राजन् मौर्ख्येण नीयसे
Even though you are powerful, you are led by the powerless from sorrow to sorrow, from fear to fear; O king, like an elephant led by its keeper, you are driven by folly.
यल् लोहरज्जुसारेण वारणः परियन्त्रितः । तद् आशापाशजालेन भवान् आपदम् आगतः
Just as the elephant is restrained by an iron chain, so too you have come into distress, bound by the net of attachments.
आशा हि लोहरज्जुभ्यो विषमा विपुला दृढा । कालेन क्षीयते लोहं तृष्णा तु परिवर्धते
Indeed, desire is more dangerous, vast, and strong than iron chains; iron is worn away by time, but craving only increases.
यद् बद्धं प्रेक्षते वैरी गजम् आराद् अलक्षितः । प्रेक्षते त्वां तद् अज्ञानं क्रीडार्थं बद्धम् एककम्
Just as an enemy secretly watches a bound elephant from a distance, so too ignorance observes you, bound and alone, for its own amusement.
यद् बभञ्ज गजश् शस्त्रशृङ्खलाजालबन्धनम् । तत् तत्याज भवान् भोगभूमिं राज्यम् अकण्टकम्
Whatever chains of weapons, fetters, and nets the elephant broke, you abandoned that land of enjoyment and the kingdom, free from thorns.
कदाचित् सुकरं शस्त्रशृङ्खलाजालभेदनम् । न त्व् अस्य मनसस् साधो भोगाशाविनिवारणम्
Sometimes it is easy to break the chains of weapons and nets, but O noble one, it is not so to remove the craving for enjoyment from the mind.
यद् इभे पाटयत्य् उच्चैर् बन्धं हस्तिपको ऽपतत् । त्वयि त्यजति तद् राज्यम् अज्ञानं पतितं क्षतम्
Just as when the elephant tears apart its bonds, the elephant-keeper falls down, so too, when you renounced the kingdom, ignorance fell, wounded.
यदा विरक्तः पुरुषो भोगाशां त्यक्तुम् इच्छति । तदा प्रकम्पते ऽज्ञानं छेद्यवृक्षपिशाचवत्
When a person, dispassionate, wishes to abandon the desire for enjoyment, then ignorance trembles like a demon bound to a tree about to be cut.
यदा विवेकी पुरुषो भोगान् सन्त्यज्य तिष्ठति । तदा पलायते ऽज्ञानं छिन्नवृक्षपिशाचवत्
When a discerning person stands firm, having abandoned enjoyments, then ignorance flees like a demon from a tree that has been cut down.
भोगौघे नूनम् उन्मुक्ते पतत्य् अज्ञानम् अस्थिति । पादपे क्रकचच्छिन्ने कुलायस् तद्गतो यथा
Surely, when the flood of enjoyments is turned away, ignorance falls, just as a nest falls when the tree it rests on is cut down.
यदा वनं प्रयातस् त्वं तदाज्ञानं क्षतं त्वया । पतितं सन् न विहतं मनस्त्यागमहासिना
When you went to the forest, then ignorance was wounded by you; though fallen, it was not destroyed by the great sword of renunciation of the mind.
तेन भूयस् समुत्थाय स्मृत्वा परिभवः कृतः । तपःप्रपञ्चखाते ऽस्मिन् गहने त्वं नियोजितः
Therefore, rising again and remembering the insult done, you were engaged in this dense thicket of ascetic practice.
तदैवाघातयिष्यस् त्वं यद्य् अज्ञानं यदा पतत् । राज्यत्यागविधौ तत् त्वां नाहनिष्यत् क्षयं गतम्
If, at that very moment, you had destroyed ignorance when it arose, then, at the time of renouncing the kingdom, that ignorance, already perished, would not have harmed you.
यत् खातवलयस् तेन वैरिणा हस्तिनः कृतः । तत् तपोदुःखम् अतुलम् अज्ञानेन तवार्पितम्
That suffering of austerity, which the enemy—the elephant—inflicted with the ring of the pit, was imposed upon you by ignorance, and is incomparable.
यां तस्य राजसामग्रीं गजारेर् आहरन् नृपः । सा त्वदज्ञाननृपतेश् चित्तभूतिर् विसारिणी
The royal wealth that the king brought from the elephant's lair was, in truth, the manifestation of the mind of the king of your ignorance, spreading outward.
त्वं गजेन्द्रस् तपःखाते दीर्घे वनगतो ऽपि सन् । अज्ञानवैरिणा तेन निक्षिप्तस् तरसाचिति
You, though dwelling in the forest for a long time in the pit of austerity like the lord of elephants, were forcefully cast there by that enemy—ignorance.
यत् खातवलयो बाललताभिर् अवगुण्ठितः । आवृतं तत् तपोदुःखम् ईषत्सज्जनवृत्तिभिः
That suffering of austerity, veiled by the tender creepers of childhood, was slightly covered by the conduct of good people.
इत्य् अद्यापि तपःखाते दुःखे ह्य् अस्मिन् सुदारुणे । स्थितो ऽसि पातालतले नृप बद्धो यथा बडिः
Thus, even now, you remain in this pit of austerity, in this exceedingly harsh suffering, O king, bound at the nethermost level like a fish on a hook.