अयम् आलक्ष्यते पुष्पलतावलनसुन्दरः । ललद्गुलुच्छकच्छन्नगवाक्षो गृहमण्डपः
Here appears a house pavilion, beautiful with entwined flowering creepers, its windows shaded by overhanging branches.
अत्र मे संस्थितो भर्ता जीवाकाशलवाकृतिः । चतुस्समुद्रपर्यन्तमेखलाया भुवः पतिः
Here my lord abides, whose form is like a particle of living space, the master of the earth girdled by the four oceans.
आस्मृतं पूर्वम् एतेन किलासीद् अभिवाञ्छितम् । शीघ्रं स्याम् इव राजेति तीव्रसंवेगधर्मिणा
Previously, this was indeed intensely desired by him, with the powerful force of aspiration: 'May I swiftly become king.'
दिनैर् अष्टभिर् एवासौ तेन राज्यं समृद्धिमत् । चिरकालप्रत्ययदं प्राप्तवान् परमेश्वरि
O Supreme Lady, in just eight days, through that, he attained a prosperous kingdom, which would normally be gained only after a long time.
अत्रासौ भर्तृजीवो मे गृहे व्योम्नि स्थितो नृपः । अदृश्यः खे यथा वायुर् आमोदो वा यथानिले
Here, the vital essence of my husband, the king, remained in my house, situated in space, unseen—like the wind in the sky, or fragrance in the air.
इहैवाङ्गुष्ठमात्रान्ते तद् व्योम्नीव पदं स्थितम् । मद्भर्तृराज्यं मम तु गतं योजनकोटिताम्
Here itself, within the space of a thumb's breadth, that realm was established as if in the sky; but my husband's kingdom had extended to a distance of ten million yojanas.
आवां खम् एव तत् खं च भर्तृराज्यं ममेश्वरि । पूर्णं सहस्रैश् शैलानाम् अहो मायेयम् आतता
We two are space itself, and that kingdom of my husband is also space, O Lady; yet it appears filled with thousands of mountains—oh, what a wonder this illusion is!
तद् देवि भर्तुर् निकटं पुनर् गन्तुं ममेप्सितम् । तद् एहि तत्र गच्छावः किं दूरं व्यवसायिनाम्
O Goddess, I now wish to return again to my husband's side; so come, let us go there—what distance is there for those who are resolute?
इत्य् उक्त्वा प्रणता देवीं सा प्रविश्याशु मण्डपम् । विहङ्गीव तया सार्धं पुप्लुवे ऽसिनिभं नभः
Having said this and bowed to the goddess, she swiftly entered the pavilion; together with her, she soared into the sky, dark as a sword, like a bird.
भिन्नाञ्जनचयप्रख्यं सौम्यैकार्णवसुन्दरम् । नारायणाङ्गसदृशं भृङ्गपृष्ठामलछविम्
The sky appeared as if split by masses of collyrium, beautiful with a gentle, single ocean, resembling the body of Narayana, with the pure luster of a bee's back.
मेघमार्गम् अतिक्रम्य वातस्कन्धावनिं तथा । सौरं मार्गम् अथाक्रम्य चान्द्रं मार्गम् अतीत्य च
Passing beyond the path of clouds and likewise the region of wind, then crossing the solar path and surpassing the lunar path,
ध्रुवमार्गोत्तरं गत्वा साध्यानां मार्गम् एव च । सिद्धानां समतीत्योर्वीम् उल्लङ्घ्य स्वर्गमण्डलम्
Having gone beyond the northern path of the Pole Star and also the path of the Sādhyas, surpassing the realm of the Siddhas and crossing over the earth, ascending to the sphere of heaven,
ब्रह्मलोकान्तरे गत्वा तुषितानां च मण्डलम् । गोलोकं शिवलोकं च पितृलोकम् अतीत्य च
Having entered the inner realm of Brahma's world and the sphere of the Tuṣitas, surpassing the world of the cows, the world of Śiva, and the world of the ancestors,
विदेहानां च देवानां दूरम् उत्तीर्य दूरगम् । दूराद् दूरतरं गत्वा किञ्चिद् रुद्धा बभूव सा
Having gone far beyond the distant gods without bodies, and traveling farther than far, she became somewhat obstructed.
पश्चाद् आलोकयाम् आस समतीतं नभस्तलम् । यावन् न किञ्चिच् चन्द्रार्कताराद्य् आलक्ष्यते ह्य् अधः
Then she looked back at the sky she had traversed, until nothing at all—moon, sun, stars, or anything else—could be seen below.
तमस् स्तिमितगम्भीरम् आशाकुहरपूरकम् । एकार्णवोदरप्रख्यं शिलोदरघनं स्थितम्
She beheld darkness, motionless and deep, filled with the hollows of space, resembling the belly of a single ocean, dense as the interior of a mountain.
तद् देवि भास्करादीनां क्वाधस् तेजो गतं वद । शिलाजठरनिस्स्पन्दं मुष्टिग्राह्यं तमः कुतः
O goddess, tell me: where has the radiance of the sun and others gone below? How has this darkness, unmoving as the belly of a rock and graspable by the fist, arisen?
एतावतीम् इमां व्योम्नः पदवीम् आगतासि भोः । अर्कादीन्य् अपि तेजांसि यतो दृश्यन्त एव नो
You have reached this extent, this path of the sky; for even the radiances of the sun and others are no longer visible here.
यथा महान्धकूपाधः खद्योतो नावलोक्यते । पृष्ठगेन तथेहातो नाधस् सूर्यो ऽवलोक्यते
Just as a firefly is not seen from the bottom of a deep, dark well, so too, from here below, the sun is not seen from behind.
अहो नु पदवीम् एतां दूराम् आवाम् उपागते । सूर्यो ऽप्य् अधो ऽणुकणवन् न मनाग् अपि लक्ष्यते
Ah, indeed, we have come to such a distant place that even the sun below appears as a mere tiny speck, not visible in the least.
इत उत्तरम् अन्या स्यात् पदवी का नु कीदृशी । कथं च पातनी भव्या कथ्यताम् इति देवि मे
From here onward, what other path is there, and what is it like? And how will the descent ahead be? Tell me, O goddess.
इत उत्तरम् अग्रे ते ब्रह्माण्डपुटकर्परम् । यस्य वज्रादयो नाम धूलिलेशास् समुत्थिताः
Beyond this, ahead of you, is the outer shell of the cosmic egg, from which particles called 'diamond dust' and the like arise.
इति प्रकथयन्त्यौ ते प्राप्ते ब्रह्माण्डकर्परम् । भ्रमर्याव् इव शैलस्य कुड्यं निबिडमण्डलम्
Thus conversing, they reached the shell of the cosmic egg, moving like bees around the dense, circular wall of a mountain.
अक्लेषेनैव ते तस्मान् निर्गते गगनाद् इव । निश्चयत्वं हि यद् वस्तु तद् वज्रगति नेतरत्
Without any effort, they passed through it as if through the sky; for what is established with certainty has the nature of a diamond's movement, not otherwise.
निरावरणविज्ञाना सा ददर्श ततस् ततः । जलाद्यावरणान् पारे ब्रह्माण्डस्यातिभासुरान्
With unobstructed knowledge, she then saw beyond the watery covering, the exceedingly radiant realms outside the cosmic egg.
ब्राह्माद् अण्डाद् दशगुणं तोयतत्त्वं व्यवस्थितम् । आस्थितं वेष्टयित्वा तत् त्वग् इवाक्षोटपृष्ठगा
Beyond the cosmic egg, the water element is established, ten times greater, enveloping it just as the skin covers the kernel of a nut.
तस्माद् दशगुणो वह्निस् तस्माद् दशगुणो ऽनिलः । ततो दशगुणं व्योम ततः परमम् अम्बरम्
Therefore, fire is tenfold greater; from that, air is tenfold greater; then, space is tenfold greater; and beyond that is the supreme ether.
तस्मिन् परमके व्योम्नि मध्याद्यन्तविकल्पनाः । न काश्चन समुद्यन्ति वन्ध्यापुत्रकथा इव
In that supreme ether, notions of middle, beginning, and end do not arise at all, just as the tale of a barren woman's son.
केवलं विमलं शान्तं तद् अनादि गतभ्रमम् । आद्यन्तमध्यरहितं महत्य् आत्मनि तिष्ठति
It is pure, tranquil, beginningless, free from confusion, devoid of beginning, end, and middle, abiding in the vast Self.
आकल्पम् उत्तमबलेन शिवापतिश् चेत् तस्मिन् बलाद् गरुडकेतुरथोत्पतेश् चेत् । तद्ध्यानतो ऽवलभते विमले ऽम्बरे ऽन्तम् आकल्पम् एकजवगाम्य् अथ मारुतो ऽपि
If, by supreme strength, the lord of Shiva or Garuda-bannered one were to rise up in that, then through meditation upon it, one attains the end of the pure ether, and likewise, the wind, moving with single-pointed speed, reaches it.