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.
अनात्मात्मैकरक्षार्थं देहान् नानाविधान् असौ । भूयो भूयो ऽपि निर्नष्टान् दृष्ट्वेदं कुरुते जगत्
For the sake of protecting the non-self as the self, it repeatedly creates various bodies, even after seeing them destroyed again and again, and thus makes this world.
स एव मायापुरुषो मिथ्यापुरुष एव सः । असन्न् एवोदितो व्यर्थम् अहङ्कारो ऽपि मायया
That very illusory person is the so-called 'illusory man'; truly, he is non-existent, and ego too arises vainly through illusion.
गृहकुण्डचतुश्शालकुम्भादीन् देहकान् असौ । कृत्वा रक्षित आत्मेति याति तद्व्योम्नि भावनाम्
He, having fashioned bodies such as house, pot, well, and jar, protects them as the self, and directs his contemplation into that space.
अहङ्कारस्य तस्यास्य नामानीमानि राघव । शृणु यैर् जगदारम्भविभ्रमैर् मोहम् एत्य् असौ
O Raghava, listen to these names of that very ego, by which, through the delusion of the world's creation and confusion, it becomes deluded.
जीवो बुद्धिर् मनश् चित्तं माया प्रकृतिर् इत्य् अपि । सङ्कल्पः कलना कालः कला चेत्य् अपि विश्रुतैः
It is called the individual soul, intellect, mind, consciousness, illusion, nature, resolve, calculation, time, and also art, according to the wise.
एवमाद्यैस् तथान्यैश् च नामभिर् बहुतां गतैः । सहस्ररूपो ऽहङ्कारः कल्पितार्थैर् विजृम्भते
Thus, with these and many other names, ego, assuming countless forms, expands with imagined objects.
भूताकाशे तते शून्ये जगन्निर्मितिभिश् चिरम् । सुखदुःखान्य् अनुभवन् मिथ्यैव पुरुषस् स्थितः
In the elemental space, on that void, the person abides for a long time, experiencing pleasures and pains through the fabrications of the world, though it is all unreal.
यथैष मिथ्यापुरुषो रक्षन् व्योमात्मशङ्कया । घटाकाशादिषु श्लिष्टम् एवं मा क्लेशवान् भव
Just as this unreal person, out of the notion of being space itself, protects what is joined to the space of the pot and so on, so you too should remain untroubled.
आकाशाद् अपि विस्तीर्णश् शुद्धस् सूक्ष्मश् शिवश् शुभः । य आत्मा स कथं केन रक्ष्यते गृह्यते तथा
How can the self, which is more expansive than space, pure, subtle, auspicious, and good, be protected or grasped by anyone?
हृदयाकाशमात्रस्य घटाकाशसमस्थितेः । व्यर्थं भूतानि शोचन्ति नष्ट आत्मेति सङ्क्षये
For one whose abode is only the space of the heart, and who abides like the space within a pot, it is pointless for beings to grieve, thinking 'the self is lost' at dissolution.