क्वचित् किञ्चिद् असञ्जातसुरं सञ्जातदानवम् । क्वचित् किञ्चित् कृतयुगाचारसज्जनभूतकम्
In some places, there are no gods but demons have arisen; in others, there are virtuous beings living according to the customs of the Krita Yuga.
क्वचित् किञ्चित् कलियुगाचारदुर्जनभूतकम् । क्वचित् किञ्चित् कल्पकालमध्यसंस्थितिसुस्थितम्
In some places, there are wicked beings following the customs of the Kali Yuga; in others, there is a world well-established in the middle period of a kalpa.
क्वचित् किञ्चित् पुरव्यूहदैत्यसङ्गरदुस्तरम् । क्वचित् किञ्चिन् महाशैलजालनिर्विवरावनि
In some places, there are cities fortified and difficult to penetrate due to battles with demons; in others, there are vast mountain ranges with uninterrupted land.
क्वचित् किञ्चिद् असम्पन्नसर्गम् एकाम्बुजोद्भवम् । क्वचित् किञ्चिज् जरामृत्युमुक्तभूतलमानवम्
In some places, there is an incomplete creation, with only a single lotus-born being; in others, there is a world of humans freed from old age and death.
क्वचित् किञ्चिद् असञ्जातचन्द्रशून्यशिरश्शिवम् । अनिर्मथितदुग्धाब्धिमृत्युमत्सुरपूरितम्
In some places, there is something auspicious: a head devoid of the yet-unborn moon, an ocean of milk not yet churned, and filled with gods untouched by death.
असञ्जातामृताश्वेभवैद्यागकमलाविषम् । शुक्रामरमहाविद्यानाशनोत्कसुरव्रजम्
There, the horses of nectar are not yet born, the poison of the lotus of medicine is absent, and the hosts of gods eager to destroy the great knowledge of Shukra and others are not present.
क्वचित् किञ्चिच् च गर्भाङ्गकर्तनोत्कसुरेश्वरम् । अपरिम्लानधर्मत्वात् स्वप्रकाशाखिलप्रजम्
Elsewhere, there is something: the lord of demons eager to cut the limbs of the unborn, and all beings shining by their own light, due to their unfading righteousness.
क्वचित् किञ्चिच् च पूर्वान्यसन्निवेशक्रमस्थिति । अपूर्ववेदशास्त्रार्थसमाचारविचारणम्
In some places, there is something: the existence of previous and other arrangements of order, and the consideration of the conduct and meaning of unprecedented Vedic scriptures.
क्वचित् किञ्चन कल्पान्तसङ्क्षोभाशिवसंस्थिति । क्वचित् किञ्चिच् च दैत्यौघविलुण्ठितसुरालयम्
Somewhere, there is a certain state of auspiciousness amidst the upheaval at the end of an eon; elsewhere, the abodes of gods are plundered by hosts of demons.
क्वचित् किञ्चित् सुरोद्यानगायद्गन्धर्वकिन्नरम् । क्वचित् किञ्चित् समारब्धगीर्वाणासुरसौहृदम्
In some places, there are Gandharvas and Kinnaras singing in the divine gardens; elsewhere, there is the beginning of friendship between gods and demons.
भूतभव्यभविष्यत्स्थजगदाडम्बरं मया । तदानुभूतं वपुषि महाविश्वगणात्मनि
The tumult of the world—past, present, and future—was experienced by me in the body of the great Self, the soul of the entire universe.
एकत्र कल्पविक्षुब्धपुष्करावर्तमन्थरम् । एकत्र सोम्यसकलभूतसन्ततिसुस्थितम्
In one place, there is the churning of the lotus-whorl disturbed by the eon; in another, all beings exist in complete harmony and peace.
एकत्र समरक्षुब्धसुरासुरनरेश्वरम् । एकत्रासम्भवद्भानुनित्याभिन्नतमोघनम्
In one place, the lords of gods and demons were agitated in battle; in another, the sun did not arise, and the mass of darkness remained undivided.
एकत्रासम्भवद्ध्वान्तं कान्तज्वालोदरोपमम् । एकत्र नलिनीनालनिलीनमधुकैटभम्
In one place, darkness prevailed, resembling the interior of a lovely flame; in another, Madhu and Kaiṭabha were hidden within the stalk of a lotus.
एकत्र पद्ममञ्जूषासुप्तबालनवाब्जजम् । एकत्रैकार्णवोदग्रवृक्षविश्रान्तमाधवम्
In one place, the newborn Brahmā slept within the casket of a lotus; in another, Mādhava (Viṣṇu) rested upon a great tree rising from the single ocean.
एकत्र कल्परजनीनिश्शून्यतिमिराकुलम् । शिलाजठरनिस्स्पन्दं व्योमेव वितताकृति
In one place, the night of dissolution was filled with the void and dense darkness; motionless as the belly of a rock, and vast in form like the sky.
सुषुप्तजठराकारम् अप्रज्ञातम् अलक्षणम् । अप्रतर्क्यम् अविज्ञेयं सुषुप्तम् इव सर्वतः
It had the form of deep sleep, unperceived and without distinguishing marks; inconceivable and unknowable, like dreamless sleep everywhere.
एकत्र पक्षविक्षुब्धशैलकाकाकुलाम्बरम् । एकत्र वज्रनिष्पेषद्रवद्भूधरभासुरम्
In one place, the sky was crowded with crows disturbed by the shaking of mountain wings; in another, the brilliance of mountains melted by the blow of a thunderbolt.
एकत्रोद्वृत्तमत्ताब्धिह्रियमाणधराचलम् । एकत्र सुरवृत्रान्धबडिसङ्गरसङ्कुलम्
In one place, the earth was shaken by intoxicated elephants of the underworld; in another, the world was churned at the end of an age upon the head of Śeṣa.
एकत्र मत्तपातालगजकम्पिवसुन्धरम् । एकत्र शेषशिरसẖ कल्पान्तलुठितावनि
In one place, the earth trembled from the wild elephants of the netherworld; in another, the earth was tossed at the end of the aeon upon the head of Śeṣa.
क्वचिद् अन्येन रामेण हतरावणराक्षसम् । रक्षसा रावणेनैव क्वचिन् निहतराघवम्
In some places, by another Rama, the demon Ravana was slain; in others, by Ravana himself, the Raghava was killed.
भूस्थपादेन देवाद्रिशिरस्स्थशिरसा परम् । पश्यता पारम् आक्रान्तं क्वचिद् वै कालनेमिना
Some saw the far shore reached by Kalanemi, with his foot on the earth and his head upon the summit of the divine mountain.
क्वचिच् चापसुरैर् नित्यं दानवैर् एव पालितम् । क्वचिच् चामृष्टदनुजैर् अमरैर् एव पालितम्
In some places, the world was always ruled by asuras and danavas; elsewhere, it was governed by gods, with the demons subdued.
जिष्णुयुक्तेन गुप्तेन विष्णुपाण्डवकौरवैः । क्वचिद् भारतयूथेन निहताक्षौहिणीगणम्
In some places, the armies of the Bharata clan, protected by Arjuna, Vishnu, Pandavas, and Kauravas, destroyed entire divisions of troops.
क्वचिच् च दाशरथिना त्वयैव हतरावणम् । रामेण रणमत्तेन निश्शेषीकृतराक्षसम्
Elsewhere, by you yourself, O son of Dasaratha, Ravana was slain—by Rama, intoxicated with battle, all the demons were utterly destroyed.
किम् अहं भगवन् पूर्वम् अभवं कथयेति मे । अभवं चेद् अनेनैव सन्निवेशेन तत् कथम्
"O Lord, tell me: who was I in the past? If I existed before in this very form, then how was that so?"
सर्व एव विवर्तन्ते राम भावाḫ पुनḫ पुनः । पूयमाना यथा माषाẖ क्रमेणान्येन तेन च
All phenomena, O Rama, revolve again and again, just as beans being cooked rise to the surface one after another.
सर्वक्रमसमाẖ केचित् त एवान्ये ऽथ वा मिथः । स्फुरन्त्य् अर्धसमा भावाẖ केचिद् अब्धितरङ्गवत्
Some phenomena appear in the same sequence, some in a different order, and some arise only partially, like waves upon the sea.
पुनस् त्वं पुनर् एवाहं पुनḫ पुनर् इमे जनाः । न कदाचन नैवान्ये सम्भवत्य् अखिलं परे
Again you, again I, again these people—over and over; never are there any others, nor does anything else ever arise in the Absolute.
त एवान्ये ऽथ वाम्भोधौ तरङ्गा इति निर्णयः । यद्वन् न जायते तद्वद् भूतानां भ्रमतां भवे
Those very same others, or perhaps waves in the ocean—such is the conclusion; just as they are not truly born, so too with beings wandering in existence.