न तृप्तिम् अधिगच्छामि वचसां वदतस् तव । ऐन्दवीनां मरीचीनां चकोरस् तृषितो यथा
I do not attain satisfaction from your words, as a thirsty chakora bird does not from the moonbeams.
तृप्तो ऽपि भूयः पृच्छामि त्वां प्रश्नम् इमम् ईश्वर । को नाम तृप्तो ऽप्य् अग्रस्थं न पिबत्य् अमृतासवम्
Though satisfied, I again ask you this question, O Lord: who, even when satisfied, does not drink the nectar placed before him?
किम् उच्यते मुनिश्रेष्ठ मिथ्यापुरुषनामकम् । वस्त्व् अवस्तूकृतजगद्वस्तुजातं वदाशु मे
What is said, O foremost sage, about the so-called false person? Quickly tell me about the world made of real and unreal things.
मिथ्यापुरुषबोधाय शृणु राघव शोभनाम् । इमाम् आख्यायिकां हासजननीं मदुदीरिताम्
Listen, Raghava, to this delightful story I narrate for the understanding of the false person, a tale that brings laughter.
अस्ति कश्चिन् महाबाहो मायायन्त्रमयः पुमान् । बालपेलवधीर् मूढो गूढो मौर्ख्येण केवलम्
There is someone, O mighty-armed one, a man made of the machinery of illusion, childish, weak, foolish, hidden solely by ignorance.
स एकान्ते क्वचिज् जातश् शून्ये तत्रैव तिष्ठति । केशोण्डुकम् इव व्योम्नि मृगतृष्णेव वा मरौ
He was born somewhere in solitude, in emptiness, and remains there, like a ball of hair in the sky or a mirage in the desert.
तस्माद् अन्यन् न तत्रास्ति यद् अस्ति च स एव तत् । यच् चान्यत् तत् सदाभासं न स पश्यति दुर्मतिः
There is nothing else there; whatever exists is only him. Whatever else appears is always a semblance, which the dull-minded one does not perceive.
सङ्कल्पस् तस्य सञ्जातस् तत्र वृद्धिम् उपेयुषः । खस्याहं खम् अहं खं मे खं रक्षामीति निश्चलः
A thought arose in him, growing there: 'I am the sky, the sky is me, the sky is mine, I must protect the sky,' unwaveringly.
खं स्थापयित्वा रक्षामि वस्त्व् इष्टं रक्ष्यम् आदरात् । इति सञ्चिन्तयन् व्योमरक्षार्थम् सो ऽकरोद् गृहम्
Thinking, 'I will keep space safe and carefully protect the desired thing,' he built a house for the protection of space.
तस्य कोशे बबन्धास्थां रक्षितं खं मयेत्य् असौ । गृहाकाशेन सन्तुष्टस् स्थितस् स रघुनन्दन
He placed the protected space inside a box, saying, 'I have guarded the space,' and, satisfied with the house-space, he remained there, O Rama.
अथ कालेन तत् तस्य गृहं नाशम् उपाययौ । ऋत्वन्तरेणर्तुर् इव वातेनेव तरङ्गकः
Then, in time, that house of his came to destruction, just as a season ends with the change of time, or as a wave is scattered by the wind.
हा गृहाकाश नष्टं त्वं हा क्व यातम् असि क्षणात् । हा हा भग्नम् असि स्वच्छम् इत्य् अथैतच् छुशोच सः
'Alas, house-space, you are lost! Alas, where have you gone in a moment? Alas, you, clear one, are broken!' Thus he lamented.
इति शोकं चिरं कृत्वा पुनस् तत्रैव दुर्मतिः । कूपं चक्रे खरक्षार्थं कूपाकाशपरो ऽभवत्
After grieving for a long time in this way, that foolish man again made a well there for the protection of space, and became absorbed in the well-space.
ततो नाशं स कालेन नीतः कूपो ऽपि तस्य वै । कूपाकाशमहाशोकविधुरो ऽसौ ततो ऽभवत्
Then, in time, that well too was destroyed; and he became overwhelmed with great sorrow for the well-space.
कूपाकाशप्रलापान्ते कुम्भं तत्रैव सो ऽकरोत् । कुम्भाकाशपरो भूत्वा स्वयं निर्वृतिम् आययौ
At the end of his lamentation for the well-space, he made a pot there; becoming absorbed in the pot-space, he himself attained satisfaction.
कुम्भो ऽपि तस्य कालेन नाशं नीतो रघूद्वह । याम् एव दिशम् आदत्ते दुर्भगस् सापि नश्यति
O descendent of Raghu, that pot too, in time, was destroyed; whatever direction the unfortunate man takes, that too perishes.
कुम्भाकाशप्रलापान्ते खरक्षार्थं चकार सः । कुण्डं तत्रैव तेनासौ कुण्डाकाशपरो ऽभवत्
At the end of his talk about the space within the pot, he made a trough for the purpose of storing salt; and there, he became absorbed in the space within the trough.
कुण्डम् अप्य् अस्य कालेन कानने नाशम् आययौ । तेजसेव तमस् तेन कुण्डाकशां शुशोच सः
In time, even that trough perished in the forest; just as light is overcome by darkness, he grieved for the space within the trough.
कुण्डकाकाशशोकान्ते खरक्षार्थं चकार सः । चतुश्शालं महाशालं तदाकाशपरो ऽभवत्
After his sorrow for the space in the trough, he made a four-pillared hall for storing salt; and then, he became absorbed in the space of the hall.
तद् अप्य् अस्य जहाराशु कालः कवलितप्रजः । जीर्णं पर्णं यथा वातस् स तच्छोकपरो ऽभवत्
Even that was swiftly taken away from him by time, which devours all beings; like a leaf withered by the wind, he became absorbed in grief for it.
चतुश्शालखशोकान्ते खरक्षार्थं चकार ह । कुसूलम् अम्बुदाकारं तदाकाशपरस् स्थितः
After his sorrow for the four-pillared hall, he made a granary shaped like a cloud for storing salt; and then, he remained absorbed in the space of the granary.
तद् अप्य् अस्य जहाराशु कालो वात इवाम्बुदम् । कुसूलाकाशशोकेन तेनासौ पर्यतप्यत
Even that was swiftly taken away from him by time, just as the wind disperses a cloud; he was tormented by grief for the space in the granary.
एवं गृहचतुश्शालकुम्भकुण्डकुसूलकैः । तस्यापर्यवसानात्मा कालो ऽयम् अतिवर्तते
Thus, with houses, four-pillared halls, pots, troughs, and granaries, his endless self is carried along by time.
एवं स्थितस् स शठधीर् गगनं गुहायां गृह्णन् गृहे न गगनेन किलात्मबुद्ध्या । दुःखान्तरं घनतरं घनदुःखजालाद् आयाति याति च गतेर् गतिम् अङ्ग मूढः
Thus, he remained with a deceitful mind, grasping the sky in the cave, but not the house with the sky by the sense of self; from the dense web of suffering, he moves from one state to another, O friend, bewildered in his journey.
मिथ्यानरप्रसङ्गेन किं मायापुरुषः प्रभो । कथितो ऽयं त्वया व्योमरक्षणं च किम् उच्यते
O Lord, what is the point of speaking about this illusory person? And what is meant by this 'guardian of the sky' you have described?
शृणु राम यथाभूतम् एतत् प्रकटयामि ते । मिथ्यापुरुषवृत्तान्तकथनं कथयाधुना
Listen, Rama, I will now reveal this to you as it truly is; I will narrate the story of the illusory person.
मायायन्त्रमयः प्रोक्तो यः पुमान् रघुनन्दन । एनं तं त्वम् अहङ्कारं विद्धि शून्याम्बरोत्थितम्
The one who is called the man made of the machinery of illusion, O descendant of Raghu, know him to be the ego, arisen from the void of space.
यस्मिन्न् आकाशकोणे ऽस्मिन् साधो जगद् इदं स्थितम् । तद् अनन्तम् असच् छून्यं सर्गादौ भवति स्वयम्
O noble one, in this corner of space where this world exists, that (space) is infinite, unreal, and empty, and at the beginning of creation, it arises of itself.
अन्तस्स्थितसुदुर्लक्ष्यब्रह्मव्योम्नो ऽथ शब्दखात् । तस्माद् उदेत्य् अहङ्कारः पूर्वं स्पन्द इवानिलात्
From that subtle, nearly imperceptible expanse of Brahman-space, and from the cavity of sound, ego arises—first, like a vibration from the wind.
वृद्धिं यातस् स गगने कल्पयत्य् आत्मतां शठः । अनात्मात्माभिमानेन तेनासौ यतते ततः
Having grown, it imagines itself to be real in the sky, this deceitful one; by identifying the non-self as the self, it then strives further.