व्यवहारमहावाहलेखा जडरयाकुला । रागद्वेषघनोल्लासा भूतलालोलदेहिका
It is marked by the lines of great currents of worldly dealings, disturbed by the torpor of dullness and old age, surging with dense waves of passion and aversion, and the body floats unsteadily on the earth.
लोभमोहमहावर्ता पातोत्पातविवर्तिनी । हा तप्ता जीविताख्येयं नदी नदनशीतला
It is a river with great whirlpools of greed and delusion, turning with the currents of downfall and calamity; alas, this so-called life is a river, hot and far from coolness.
अपूर्वाण्य् उपगच्छन्ति तथा पूर्वाणि यान्त्य् अलम् । संसारसरिदम्बूनि सङ्गतानि धनानि च
New things come, and old things depart completely; the waters of the river of samsara, and accumulated wealth, all pass away.
प्रवृत्ता ये निवर्तन्ते तैर् अलं हतभावकैः । अपूर्वा ये प्रवर्तन्ते तेष्व् अप्य् आस्थेह कीदृशी
Those who have set out turn back, and they are of no account, their purpose lost; and those who are newly setting forth—what kind of reliance can there be on them here?
सर्वस्यास् सरितो वारि प्रयात्य् आयाति चाकरात् । देहनद्याḫ पयस् त्व् आयुḫ प्रयात्य् आयाति नो पुनः
The water of every river departs from its source and returns; but the vital fluid in the river of the body departs and does not return.
शतशḫ परिवर्तन्ते प्रतिपिण्डं क्षणं प्रति । कुलालचक्रिकाभावा इव भावा भवाम्बुधौ
Hundreds of forms revolve, each moment for each individual, like the turning of a potter’s wheel—so do existences in the ocean of becoming.
चरन्ति चतुराश् चौरा विषमा विषयारयः । हरन्ति भावसर्वस्वं जागर्मि स्वपिमीह किम्
Clever thieves roam—these hostile senses—stealing the entirety of one's being; whether I am awake or asleep, what does it matter here?
आयुषẖ खण्डखण्डाश् च निपतन्तḫ पुनḫ पुनः । न कश्चिद् वेत्ति कालेन कृतानि दिवसान्य् अहो
Fragments of life fall again and again; no one knows, by the passage of time, how many days have been spent—alas!
इदम् अद्य तथेदं श्वस् तथेदम् इदम् अद्य मे । एवंकलनया लोको गतं प्राप्तं न वेत्त्य् अहो
This is today, and so it will be tomorrow; this is today for me—by such reckoning, the world passes and arrives, yet no one knows, alas!
भुक्तं पीतम् अनन्तासु भ्रान्तं च भवभूमिषु । दृष्टानि सुखदुẖखानि किम् अन्यद् इह साध्यते
I have eaten, drunk, wandered endlessly through the realms of existence; I have seen pleasures and pains—what else remains to be accomplished here?
सुखदुẖखानुभवनाद् भूयो भूयो विवर्तनात् । अनित्यत्वाच् च भावानां स्थिता निष्कौतुका वयम्
From experiencing pleasure and pain, from repeated change, and from the impermanence of things, we remain without curiosity.
भुक्तानि भोगवृन्दानि दृष्टा चानित्यता भृशम् । नोपलभ्यत एवातिविश्रान्तिर् इह कुत्रचित्
Enjoyments have been tasted, impermanence has been thoroughly seen; yet nowhere here is perfect rest found.
भ्रान्तम् उत्तुङ्गशृङ्गासु मेरूपवनभूमिषु । लोकपालपुरीषूच्चैस् सम्प्राप्तं किम् अकृत्रिमम्
Having wandered among the lofty peaks, in the forests and lands of Meru, and in the splendid cities of the guardians of the world—what, indeed, is truly genuine there?
सर्वत्र दारुभिर् वृक्षा मांसैर् भूतानि भूर् मृदा । दुẖखान्य् अनित्यता चेति कथम् आश्वास्यते वद
Everywhere, trees are made of wood, beings are made of flesh, the earth is made of clay, and there is suffering and impermanence—so tell me, how can one find reassurance?
न धनानि न मित्राणि न सुखानि न बन्धवः । शक्नुवन्ति परित्रातुं कालेन कलितं जनम्
Neither wealth, nor friends, nor pleasures, nor relatives are able to save a person who has been seized by time.
जनो जरढजीमूतजालवद् गिरिकुक्षिषु । यात्य् अन्तश्शून्य एवास्तं पांसूपचयपेलवः
People, like clouds aged and scattered in the mountain caves, fade away into emptiness, frail as heaps of dust.
नेमे मनोरमाẖ कामा न च रम्या विभूतयः । इदं मत्ताङ्गनापाङ्गभङ्गलोलं च जीवितम्
These delightful desires are not truly charming, nor are these splendid possessions; even this life, swaying with the glances of intoxicated women, is unstable.
क्वेव कस्य कथं नाम कुत आश्वासनं मुने । अद्य श्वो वा पदं पापो मृत्युर् मूर्ध्नि नियच्छति
Where, for whom, and in what way, O sage, is there any reassurance? Today or tomorrow, death, the evil one, may set his foot upon one's head.
शरीरं पर्णवद् भ्रंशि जीवितं जीर्णसंस्थिति । धीरधीरतया ग्रस्ता रसा नीरसतां गताः
The body falls like a leaf; life is sustained in a worn-out state; pleasures, whether for the resolute or the weak, have been consumed and have become tasteless.
नीतं मनोरथैर् एव नीरसैर् आयुर् आततम् । न मनस्वि चमत्कारकारि किञ्चिद् अपीहितम्
Life has been spent only in insipid fantasies; nothing has been accomplished that would astonish a noble mind.
मोहो ऽद्य मान्द्यम् आयातो देहो नेहोपपद्यते । अनास्थैवोत्तमावस्था स्थानास्थैवाधमस्थितिः
Delusion has now brought on dullness; the body is no longer suitable for action. Indifference alone is the highest state; remaining attached to positions is the lowest condition.
आपद् आपतितैवेयं महामोहविधायिनी । नित्यम् इत्य् एव मन्तव्यं सक्तव्यं नेह संसृतौ
This misfortune, which brings about great delusion, should always be regarded as such; one should not become attached to this cycle of worldly existence.
विधिभिḫ प्रतिषेधैश् च शास्त्रितैर् अप्य् अशास्त्रितैः । यथेष्टं नीयते लोको जलं निम्नोन्नतैर् इव
Whether governed by injunctions and prohibitions, or by what is not prescribed by scripture, people are carried along as they wish, just as water flows over uneven ground.
विवेकामोदसर्वस्वं चेतẖकुसुमकोशतः । हृत्वा मूर्छां प्रयच्छन्ति विषया विषवायवः
The poisonous winds of sense-objects steal away the entire fragrance of discernment from the bud of the mind, and bring about stupefaction.
असद् एव तथा नाम दृश्यं सत्ताम् उपागतम् । यथा सद् एवासद्रूपं सम्पन्नम् असद् एव सत्
That which is unreal appears as if it has attained reality, just as the real may seem to have taken on an unreal form; thus, the unreal seems real, and the real, unreal.
दोलयन्त्यो ऽवनौ देहं सागरान् सागराङ्गनाः । यथा धावन्ति धावन्ति जनता विषयांस् तथा
Just as waves in the ocean toss a body about on the earth, so too do people rush after sense-objects, running and running.
धावन्ति विषयं लक्ष्यम् उन्मुक्ताश् चित्तसायकाः । स्पृशन्ति न गुणं भूयẖ कृतघ्नास् सौहृदं यथा
The arrows of the mind, once released, rush toward the target of sense-objects; they do not touch virtue again, just as the ungrateful do not return to friendship.
उत्पातवायुर् एवायुर् मित्राण्य् एवातिशत्रवः । बन्धवो बन्धनान्य् एव धनान्य् एवातिनैधनम्
Life is like a stormy wind; friends are like the greatest enemies; relatives are but bonds, and wealth is truly great poverty.
सुखान्य् एवातिदुẖखानि सम्पदḫ परमापदः । भोगा भवमहारोगा रतिर् एव परारतिः
Pleasures are indeed intense sorrows; prosperity is the highest adversity; enjoyments are the great disease of existence; delight itself is supreme suffering.
आपदस् सम्पदस् सर्वास् सुखं दुẖखाय केवलम् । जीवितं मरणायैव बत माया विजृम्भते
All misfortunes are fortunes, and happiness is nothing but sorrow; life itself is truly for death—alas, how illusion unfolds.