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.
बहून् कालपरावर्तान् इष्टानिष्टान् सुखं मनाक् । पश्यन् प्रियवियोगांश् च याति जर्जरतां जनः
Witnessing many cycles of time, both pleasant and unpleasant, and separations from loved ones, a person gradually becomes worn out.
भोगा विषयसम्भोगा भोगा इव फणावताम् । दशन्त्य् अपि मनाक् स्पृष्टा दृष्टनष्टाḫ प्रतिक्षणम्
Sensual enjoyments are like the pleasures of serpents; even a slight touch brings pain, and what is seen vanishes instantly.
आयुर् याति निरायासपदसम्प्राप्तिवर्जितैः । उदर्कभङ्गुराकारैẖ करालैẖ कष्टचेष्टितैः
Life passes away without attaining ease, marked by harsh, unstable, and dreadful actions that bring only ruin in the end.
भोगाशाबद्धतृष्णानाम् अवमानḫ पदे पदे । आलानपरिलीनानां वन्यानाम् इव दन्तिनाम्
For those bound by the thirst for enjoyment, humiliation comes at every step, just as it does for wild elephants chained and confined.
सम्पदḫ प्रमदाश् चैव तरङ्गोत्सङ्गभङ्गुराः । कस् तास्व् अहिफणाच्छत्त्रच्छायासु रमते बुधः
Wealth and women are as fragile as waves cresting and breaking; what wise person delights in such shade as that beneath a serpent's hood?
सत्यं मनोरमाẖ कामास् सत्यं रम्या विभूतयः । किं तु मत्ताङ्गनापाङ्गभङ्गलोलं हि जीवितम्
It is true that desires are charming and powers delightful; yet life itself is as fickle as the wavering glance of an intoxicated woman.
आपातरमणीयेषु रमन्ते विषयेषु ये । अत्यन्तविरसान्तेषु पतन्ति नरकेषु ते
Those who delight in pleasures that are appealing only at first encounter fall into hell when they become utterly tasteless.
द्वन्द्वदोषोपरुद्धानि दुस्साधान्य् अस्थिराणि च । धनान्य् अभव्यसेव्यानि मम जातु न तुष्टये
Wealth, obstructed by the faults of duality, difficult to attain and unstable, is fit only for the unworthy; it has never brought me satisfaction.
आपातमात्रमधुरा दुẖखपर्यवसायिनी । मोहनायैव लोकस्य लक्ष्मीẖ क्षणविनाशिनी
Fortune is sweet only for a moment, ending in sorrow; it exists solely to delude the world and perishes in an instant.
आपातरमणीयानि विमर्दविरसान्य् अति । सुखान्य् आपत्प्रधानानि सङ्गतानि खलैर् इव
Pleasures that are charming at first quickly lose their taste through conflict; happiness that is chiefly momentary arises from association with the wicked.