ततस् त्रिशूलनयनैर् मया रुद्रो ऽयम् इत्य् असौ । दूराद् एव परिज्ञाय परमेशो नमस्कृतः
Then, by the trident and the three eyes, I recognized from afar: 'This is Rudra,' and I bowed to the Supreme Lord.
किं स तादृग्विधो रुद्रẖ किं कृष्णẖ किं महाकृतिः । किं पञ्चवदनẖ कस्माद् दशबाहुẖ क्व तिष्ठति
Is Rudra truly of such a form? Is he dark? Is he of great stature? Why five-faced, why ten-armed, and where does he reside?
किं त्रिनेत्रẖ किम् उग्रात्मा किम् एकẖ किंप्रयोजनः । केनेरितẖ किम् अकरोत् क्वायासीद् वद मे मुने
Who is the Three-Eyed One? Who is fierce in spirit? Who is the One, and what is his purpose? By whom was he impelled, what did he do, where was he? Tell me, O sage.
काकुत्स्थ रुद्रनामासाव् अहङ्कारस् तथोत्थितः । विषमैकाभिमानात्मा मूर्तिर् अस्यामलं नभः
O Kakutstha, that Rudra named so is the ego arisen thus, whose nature is the pride of singularity, whose form is the stainless sky.
व्योमाकृतिस् स भगवान् व्योमवर्णामलो महान् । चिद्व्योममात्रसारत्वाद् आकाशात्मा स उच्यते
That blessed one has the form of space, vast and pure as the sky; because his essence is only the consciousness-sky, he is called the Self of space.
सर्वभूतात्मभूतत्वात् सर्वगत्वान् महाकृतिः । यानि तस्यानुषक्तानि पञ्चज्ञानेन्द्रियाण्य् अलम्
Because he is the self of all beings and pervades all, his form is great; the five sense organs that are connected to him are indeed his faces.
तानि तस्य मुखान्य् आहुस् तपद्रूपाणि सर्वतः । कर्मेन्द्रियाणि विषयास् ते हि तस्य भुजा दश
Those are called his faces, manifesting as ascetic forms on every side; the organs of action and their objects are his ten arms.
सर्वभूतभरैस् सार्धं ब्रह्मणा परम् एयुषा । यदासौ सम्परित्यक्तस् तदासौ मूर्तिम् आगतः
Together with the burdens of all beings and with the supreme Brahman, when he is completely abandoned, then he assumes a form.
स चाकाशैकरूपात्मा नास्ति तस्य हि साकृतिः । तथा दृश्यत एवासौ भ्रान्तिमात्रं न मूर्तिमान्
And he, whose essence is only the form of space, truly has no form; thus he only appears to be seen, but it is mere illusion, not a real embodiment.
चिदाकाशगते स्फारे भूताकाशे स तिष्ठति । देहे च सर्वभूतानां नित्यं वायुर् इवेश्वरः
Abiding in the vast expanse of the sky of consciousness, he stands in the elemental sky, and in the bodies of all beings, always like the wind, O Lord.
सर्वभूतपरित्यक्तस् तस्मिन् काले खमूर्तिमान् । क्षोभम् एत्य क्षणं क्षीणḫ परमां शान्तिम् एष्यति
Having abandoned all beings, at that time, he who has the form of space, after experiencing a moment of agitation, will attain supreme peace.
ये गुणा ये त्रयẖ कालाश् चित्ताहङ्कारबुद्धयः । प्रणवस्य च ये वर्णा ये च वेदास् तथा त्रयः
The qualities, the three times, mind, ego, intellect, the syllables of Om, and likewise the three Vedas—
रुद्रस्य तस्य ते नेत्रसन्निवेशेन संस्थिताः । त्रिशूलं तेन त्रैलोक्यं गृहीतं करकोटरे
All these are established in the arrangement of the eyes of that Rudra; by that, the trident, the three worlds are held in the hollow of his hand.
यस्मात् तद्व्यतिरेकेण सर्वभूतगणेष्व् अपि । अन्यन् न विद्यते किञ्चिद् देहात्मैव ततस् स्थितः
Therefore, apart from that, even among all groups of beings, there is nothing else; thus, only the embodied self remains.
सर्गसत्तोपलम्भात्मा स्वभावो ऽस्य प्रयोजनम् । ईरितश् शिवरूपेण चिन्मात्राकाशरूपिणा
His nature is the apprehension of creation and existence; this is his purpose, proclaimed in the form of Shiva, whose nature is pure consciousness and space.
तेनैव च निगीर्णस् सन् परमां शान्तिम् एष्यति । निर्मलाकाशरूपात्मा कृष्ण इत्य् एष ईश्वरः
Being absorbed into that, he attains supreme peace; his essence is pure, space-like—this is Krishna, the Lord.
कृत्वाकल्पं जगत् सर्वं तत् पीत्वैकार्णवं तदा । सम्प्रयाति परां शान्तिम् अभूयस्सन्निवृत्तये
Having made the entire world into a single epoch, then having absorbed it into one ocean, he proceeds to supreme peace for the sake of non-becoming.
अनन्तरं मया दृष्टस् तत्रासौ यावद् उद्यमात् । प्रवृत्तḫ प्राणवेगेन तम् आक्रष्टुं महार्णवम्
Immediately after, I saw him there, striving with all his might, rushing with the force of life to draw in that great ocean.
अथ तस्य मुखं स्फारं ज्वालामालाकुलान्तरम् । प्राणकृष्टो महाम्भोधिर् वाडवाग्निम् इवाविशत्
Then, as the life-force was drawn forth, the vast mouth, filled within with a garland of flames, entered the great ocean like the submarine fire.
स एव वाडवो भूत्वा वह्निर् आकल्पम् अर्णवे । अहङ्कारḫ पिबत्य् अम्बु रुद्रस् सर्वं तु तत् तदा
That very fire, becoming the submarine fire, for an age in the ocean, Rudra, the ego, drank up all the waters.
पातालम् इव पानीयं सर्पो बिलम् इव क्षणात् । चण्डवायुर् इवाकाशम् अविशत् तन्मुखं जवात्
Like water into the netherworld, like a serpent into its hole in a moment, like a fierce wind into the sky, it swiftly entered that mouth.
समुदेत्यापिबद् रुद्रस् स मुहूर्तेन तत्पयः । कृष्णाङ्गो ऽर्क इव ध्वान्तं सत्सम्पर्क इवागुणम्
Rudra rose up and drank that water in an instant, just as the sun with dark rays swallows darkness, or virtue absorbs vice in the presence of the good.
आब्रह्मलोकपातालं शान्तं शून्यम् अथाभवत् । रजोधूमानिलाम्भोदभूतमुक्तं समं नभः
From Brahma’s world down to the netherworld, all became peaceful and empty; the sky was uniform, freed from dust, smoke, wind, water, and elements.
केवलं तत्र दृश्यन्ते चत्वारो व्योमनिर्मलाः । इमे पदार्था निस्स्पन्दाश् शृणु तान् रघुनन्दन
There, only four pure forms in the sky are seen; these objects are motionless—listen to them, O delight of the Raghu lineage.
एकस् तावद् असौ मध्ये रुद्रẖ कृष्णाम्बराकृतिः । निराधारस् स्थितो व्योम्नि निस्स्पन्दो ऽम्भोधिबिम्बवत्
One stands in the center—Rudra, dark as a rain-cloud, unsupported, unmoving in the sky, like the reflection of the ocean.
द्वितीयो ऽवस्थितो दूरे पृथ्व्याकाशतलोपमः । भागो ब्रह्माण्डसदनस्याधḫ पातालसप्तकात्
The second is situated afar, resembling the surface of the earth and sky—a portion of the cosmic abode, below the seven netherworlds.
पातालभूतलदिवां सशैलेन्द्रदिवौकसाम् । व्याप्तिḫ पार्थिवभागेन पङ्कमात्रात्मना मनाक्
The expanse of the netherworld, the earth, and the heavens, together with the mountains and the dwellers of the sky, is pervaded by the earthly element, present even in the smallest particle of mud.
तृतीयो ऽत्र पदार्थो ऽभूद् ऊर्ध्वं ब्रह्माण्डभागभूः । दृष्टिक्षयात् स दूरत्वाल् लक्ष्यते गगनासितः
Here, the third element is the region above, the realm of the cosmic egg; because of the limits of perception and its remoteness, it appears as the dark expanse of the sky.
दूरविश्लिष्टयोर् मध्यं यत् तद् ब्रह्माण्डखण्डयोः । तद् आकाशम् अनाद्यन्तं ब्रह्म निर्मलम् आततम्
The space that lies between the two distant divisions of the cosmic egg is the sky—beginningless, endless, pure, and all-pervading Brahman.
चतुर्थो ऽसौ पदार्थस् तु तदा संलक्षितो मया । चतुष्टयाद् ऋते नान्यद् एतस्माद् एव किञ्चन
That fourth element was then perceived by me; apart from these four, there is nothing else whatsoever.