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.
आयान्ति यान्त्य् अनन्तानि भूतानीह भवभ्रमैः । तान्य् एवान्यानि चान्यानि समानि विषमाणि च
Countless beings come and go here, driven by the wanderings of existence; they are the same, or different, or both, some equal and some unequal.
आवृत्तिमन्ति तान्य् एव तथैवान्यानि चाभितः । विद्धि शीकरजालानि भूतानि जगदम्बुधेः
Those very same ones return, and likewise others all around; know beings to be like clusters of droplets in the ocean of the world.
वित्तबन्धुवयẖकर्मविद्याविज्ञानचेष्टितैः । तैर् एव केचिज् जायन्ते भूयो भूयश् शरीरिणः
Through wealth, kin, offspring, actions, learning, knowledge, and activities—by these alone, some embodied beings are born again and again.
अर्धैस् तैस् सदृशाẖ केचित् केचित् पादेन तैस् समाः । तज्जीवास् तैर् विसदृशा भवन्त्य् अन्ये शरीरिणः
Some are similar by half to those, some are equal by a portion; other embodied beings, their vitalities, become dissimilar from them.
सर्वैर् एभिस् समाẖ केचित् कालेनैव विलक्षणाः । कालेन सदृशाẖ केचित् तैर् एव च विलक्षणाः
Some are entirely similar to all these, and by time alone some are distinct; some are similar by time, and by these very factors, some are distinct.
कालेनाकुलचेष्टितान्य् अध इतो गच्छन्त्य् अथोर्ध्वं पुनर् देहालेखनखेदितान्य् अगणितान्य् अन्यानि चान्ये न च । भूताम्बूनि वहन्ति संसृतिमये यान्य् अम्बुधौ चञ्चले चक्रावृत्तिमयानि सङ्कलयितुं शक्नोति कस् तान्य् अलम्
Driven by the restless movements of time, some go downward from here, others upward again, and countless others are worn out by the imprinting of bodies; the waters of beings carry on in the ocean of transmigration—who indeed can fully grasp those, which are like whirling eddies in the unsteady sea?
ततश् चिदाकाशवपुर् व्याप्य् अनन्तो निरामयः । दत्तावधानो वपुषि तदापश्यम् अहं क्वचित्
Then, with my attention fixed, I beheld at some place the infinite, stainless one, whose form is the space of consciousness, pervading all.
यावद् अन्तर्गतस् सर्गस् संस्थितो ऽङ्कुरितो मम । कुसूलस्थस्य बीजस्य सिक्तस्येवाङ्कुरो हृदि
As long as the creation remained latent within me, it was like a sprout in the heart, as if from a seed lying in straw, moistened and about to sprout.
उद्बुभूषुर् इवास्ते ऽन्तस् सेकाद् बीजे यथाङ्कुरः । आकारवत्य् अनाकारश् चित्त्वाच् चित्ते तथा जगत्
Just as a sprout is about to emerge from a seed when watered, so too, within, the world arises in consciousness—having form, yet formless, because it is of the nature of consciousness.
यथोन्मिषति दृश्यश्रीस् सुषुप्ताद् बोधम् एयुषः । जाग्रद् वा विगते स्वप्ने चिन्मात्रस्य स्वचेतनात्
As the splendor of what is seen arises when one awakes from deep sleep, or in the waking state when dream has ceased, so too does the world arise from pure consciousness, by its own awareness.