नेह प्रजायते किञ्चिन् नेह किञ्चन नश्यति । जगद् गन्धर्वनगररूपेण ब्रह्मबृंहितम्
Here, nothing is born and nothing perishes; the world, like a city of the Gandharvas, is expanded in Brahman.
यथैव ब्रह्मजादीनां जीवानां सदसन्मयी । सत्ता तथैव सर्वेषाम् आसरीसृपम् आसुरम्
Just as the existence of Brahma and other living beings is composed of reality and unreality, so too is the existence of all, whether serpentine or demonic.
संविद्विभ्रम एवायम् एवम् अभ्युत्थितो ऽप्य् असत् । आब्रह्म कीटसंवित्तेस् सम्यक्संवेदनक्षयः
This is only the confusion of consciousness; even when it arises thus, it is unreal; from Brahma down to the worm, when true knowledge ceases, so does awareness.
यथा सम्पद्यते ब्रह्मा कीटस् सम्पद्यते तथा । कीटस् तु रूढभूतौघवलनात् तुच्छकर्मतः
Just as Brahma comes into being, so too does the worm; but the worm, due to the dominance of gross elements and insignificance of actions, is limited.
यद् एव जीवनं जीवे चेत्योन्मुखमयात्मकम् । तद् एव पौरुषं तस्मिन् सारं कर्म तद् एव च
Whatever life is in a living being, consisting of the inclination towards objects, that alone is manliness in him, that alone is the essence, and that alone is action.
ब्रह्मणस् सर्गताहन्ते कीटस्याप्य् असदुत्थिते । चित्तमात्रात्मके भ्रान्ते प्रेक्षामात्रभवत्क्षये
From the creation of Brahma down to the destruction of an insect, when the illusion that is mind-only ceases, only pure perception remains.
मातृमानप्रमेयार्थो न चिन्मात्रेतरो यदा । तदा द्वैतैक्यवादार्थश् शशशृङ्गाब्जिनीसमः
When the objects of knower, means of knowledge, and the known do not exist apart from pure consciousness, then the doctrines of duality and unity are as unreal as a hare’s horn or a lotus in the sky.
भावदार्ढ्यात्मकं मिथ्या ब्रह्मणो ऽण्डं विभाव्यते । आत्मैव कोशकारेण लालारूपात्मकं यथा
The cosmic egg of Brahma, which is of the nature of firm existence, is imagined falsely; just as the self, by the action of a silkworm, appears in the form of its own saliva.
सत्तया ब्रह्मणा यद् यद् यथा दृष्टं विभाति तत् । तत् तथा दृश्यते तज्ज्ञैस् स्वभावस्यैष निश्चयः
Whatever is seen by Brahma as real, appears in that very way; this is the certain understanding of those who know reality, regarding the nature of things.
यथा यद् उदितं वस्तु तन् न तत्तां विना भवेत् । निमेषम् अपि कल्पो वा स्वभावस्यैष निश्चयः
Whatever thing arises, it cannot exist even for a moment or an age without its own nature; this is the certain understanding of the nature of things.
अलीकम् इदम् उत्पन्नम् अलीकं च विवर्धते । अलीकम् एव स्वदते तथालीकं विलीयते
This which has arisen is unreal, and the unreal alone increases; it experiences only the unreal, and thus the unreal dissolves.
चिन्मात्रस्यान्तरे सर्गश् चिन्मात्रं सकलान्तरे । तत्त्वात् समस्तसत्तानां चिन्मात्रं सर्वम् एव वा
Within pure consciousness is creation; pure consciousness is within all; in truth, all beings are pure consciousness, or rather, everything is pure consciousness.
चिन्मात्रम् एव बहिर् अन्तर् उपर्य् अधस्तान् मानप्रमेयम् इति मातृपदं च धत्ते । नित्योपशान्तम् इति तेन समस्तसत्ता नित्यं स्थितं सुसमम् एकम् अपेततुर्यम्
Pure consciousness alone is inside, outside, above, below, as the knower, the means, and the known; thus it assumes the position of the knower. Ever peaceful, by this, all existence abides always as one, perfectly balanced, beyond the fourth state.
अत्रैवोदाहरन्तीमम् इतिहासं पुरातनम् । राक्षस्योक्तं महाप्रश्नजालम् आवलिताखिलम्
Here they recount this ancient tale, the great web of questions spoken by a demoness, all-encompassing.
अस्ति कज्जलपङ्काद्रेर् इवोग्रा सालभञ्जिका । हिमाद्रेर् उत्तरे पार्श्वे कर्कटी नाम राक्षसी
There is, like the fierce Sālabhañjikā of the sooty mountain, a demoness named Karkaṭī on the northern side of the Himalayas.
विषूचिकाभिधाना या कन्या सा न्यायबाधिका । विन्ध्याटवीव देहेन युक्त्या कार्श्यम् उपागता
She, called Viṣūcikā, is a maiden afflicted by justice, emaciated in body like the Vindhya forest by reasoning.
महाबलाग्निनयना रोदोरन्ध्रावपूरिणी । नीलाम्बराम्बरा कृष्णा देहबद्धेव यामिनी
With eyes blazing like great fires, her nostrils filled with smoke, clad in dark blue garments, black as night bound in a body.
नीहारवसनाच्छन्ना मेदुराभ्रशिरःपटा । लम्बाभ्रबिम्बोरसिजा नित्योर्ध्वतिमिरोर्ध्वजा
Shrouded in mist-like robes, with a headcloth like a dense cloud, her breasts like hanging rain-clouds, ever bearing the banner of darkness.
स्थिरविद्युल्लतानेत्रा तमालतरुतारका । वैडूर्यशूर्पाग्रनखी भस्मनीहारहासिनी
Her eyes steady as lightning streaks, stars among tamāla trees; her nails tipped like the edge of a cat's-eye gem, laughing with a garland of ashes.
निर्मांसनरदेहौघपुष्पस्रग्दामभूषिता । सर्वाङ्गोग्रान्त्रसम्प्रोतशवमालाविराजिता
Adorned with garlands of flowers made from heaps of fleshless human bodies, she shines with a necklace of corpses strung with fierce entrails on every limb.
वेतालावेशविवलत्कालकङ्कालकुण्डला । अर्कादानोत्कदीप्ताभ्रभीमोग्रभुजमण्डला
Her earrings are dreadful skulls, agitated by the possession of spirits; her mighty arms blaze like thunderclouds seized by the sun.
तस्या विपुलकायत्वाद् दुर्लभत्वान् निजान्धसः । अतृप्तो ऽर्णवलेखाया इवाभूज् जाठरो ऽनलः
Because of her immense body and the scarcity of her own food, the fire in her belly was never satisfied, like a flame that cannot be quenched by a mere trace of water.
न कदाचन सा तृप्तिम् उपायाति महोदरी । वडवानलजिह्वेव चिन्तयाम् आस चैकदा
Never did that great-bellied one attain satisfaction; like the tongue of the submarine fire, she was always restless, and once she began to reflect.
जम्बुद्वीपगतान् सर्वान् निगिरामि जनान् यदि । अनारतम् अनुच्छ्वासं जलराशीन् इवार्णवः
If I were to swallow all the people living on Jambudvīpa, I would still not cease my constant hunger, just as the ocean never stops inhaling the rivers.
मेघेन मृगतृष्णेव तन् मे क्षुद् उपशाम्यति । अविरुद्धैव सा युक्तिर् ययापदि हि जीव्यते
My hunger is not appeased even by clouds or mirages; only that method is suitable which allows one to survive in adversity.
मन्त्रौषधतपोदानदेवपूजादिरक्षितम् । समम् एव जनं सर्वं निर्बाधं कः प्रबाधते
Who can trouble all people equally, when they are protected by mantras, herbs, charity, austerity, worship of the gods, and the like, and are free from obstacles?
तपः करोमि परमम् अखिन्नेनैव चेतसा । तपसैव महोग्रेण यद् दुरापं तद् आप्यते
I shall perform supreme austerity with an unwavering mind; for by the power of intense austerity, even what is difficult to obtain can be attained.
इति सञ्चिन्त्य सा सर्वजन्तुजातजिघत्सया । तपोऽर्थम् अथ सस्मार प्रदेशं भूतदुर्गमम्
Thinking thus, driven by the hunger to consume all living beings, she then remembered a remote and forbidding place suitable for austerity.
आरुरोह च तच् छृङ्गं स्थिरविद्युद्विलोचना । हस्तपादादिमद्देहा श्यामलेवाभ्रमण्डली
And she climbed that peak, her eyes steady as lightning, her body endowed with hands and feet, dark as a mass of clouds.
तत्राम्बराम्बरा स्नातुं तपः कर्तुं कृतस्थितिः । अतिष्ठद् एकपादेन चन्द्रार्कास्पन्दलोचना
There, she stood firm to bathe in the sky and practice austerity, standing on one foot, her eyes unmoving like the moon and sun.