लतागुल्माङ्कुरादीनां जात्यन्धानां तथैव च । अन्येषाम् अप्य् अनक्षाणाम् आलोकः क इवोत्तमः
For creepers, bushes, sprouts, and those born blind, and likewise for others without eyes, what is the highest source of light?
जनकः को ऽम्बरादीनां सत्तायाः कस् स्वभावदः । को जगद्रत्नकोशस् स्यात् कस्य कोशे मणेर् जगत्
Who is the origin of space and other elements, who gives them their nature? Who is the treasure chest of the world's jewels, and in whose treasury is the world a gem?
को ऽणुस् तमः प्रकाशश् च को ऽणुर् अस्ति च नास्ति च । को ऽणुर् दूरे ऽप्य् अदूरे च को ऽणुर् एव महागिरिः
What is the atom that is darkness and light, that both exists and does not exist? What is the atom that is distant yet not distant, and that itself is a great mountain?
निमेष एव कः कल्पः कः कल्पो ऽपि निमेषकः । किं प्रत्यक्षम् असद्रूपं किं चेतनम् अचेतनम्
What is a moment that is an age, and what is an age that is a moment? What is apparent yet unreal, and what is conscious yet unconscious?
कश् चावायुश् च वायुश् च कश् शब्दो ऽशब्द एव च । कस् सर्वं च नकिञ्चिद् च को ऽहं नाहं च किं भवेत्
What is both airless and air, what is sound and soundlessness? What is everything and nothing, who am I and who am I not, and what can that be?
किं प्रयत्नशतप्राप्तं लब्ध्वापि बहुजन्मभिः । लब्धं नकिञ्चिद् भवति ननु सर्वं च लभ्यते
What is gained through hundreds of efforts and many lifetimes, yet when attained is nothing, and yet everything is attainable?
स्वस्थेन जीवतैवोच्चैः केन स्वात्मापहारितः । केनाणुनान्तर् व्रियते मेरुस् त्रिभुवनं तृणम्
By whom is one's own self taken away, even while living in one's own nature? By what atom is the Meru mountain, the three worlds, and a blade of grass contained within?
केनाणुकणमात्रेण पूरिता शतयोजनी । को ऽणुर् एव भवन् माति न योजनशतेष्व् अपि
By what atom is a hundred-yojana expanse filled? What atom alone becomes a world, yet not even in a hundred yojanas?
केनालोकनमात्रेण जगद्बालः प्रनाट्यते । कस्याणोर् अन्तरे सन्ति कुलावनिभृतां घटाः
By what mere act of seeing is the world-play enacted? Within which atom are the pots that hold the families of mountains?
अणुत्वम् अजहत् को ऽणुर् मेरोस् स्थूलतराकृतिः । वालाग्रशतभागात्मा को ऽणुर् उच्चैश् शिलोच्चयः
What is the atom that does not abandon its minuteness, yet appears in the massive form of Meru? What is the atom that is the hundredth part of a hair’s tip, and what is the towering mountain?
को ऽणुः प्रकाशतमसोर् दीपः प्रकटनप्रदः । कस्याणोर् अन्तरे सन्ति समग्रानुभवाणवः
What is the atom that is the light revealing both brightness and darkness? Within which atom do all experiences, minute as they are, reside?
को ऽणुर् अत्यन्तनिस्स्वादुर् अपि संस्वदते भृशम् । केन सन्त्यजता सर्वम् अणुना सर्वम् आश्रितम्
What is the atom that, though utterly tasteless, is intensely savored? By which atom, having renounced all, is everything nevertheless supported?
केनात्माच्छादनाशक्तेर् अणुनाच्छादितं जगत् । जगन् नयेन कस्याणोस् सद्भूतम् अभिजीवति
By which atom, lacking the power to conceal itself, is the world concealed? By the method of which atom does the world subsist as real?
अजातावयवः को ऽणुस् सहस्रकरलोचनः । को निमेषो महाकल्पो महाकल्पशतानि वा
What is the atom that is without parts, yet has a thousand hands and eyes? What is an instant, or a great age, or even hundreds of great ages?
अणौ जगन्ति तिष्ठन्ति कस्मिन् बीज इव द्रुमाः । बीजाद्यानि फलान्तानि स्फुटान्य् अनुदितान्य् अपि
In which atom do worlds abide, as trees in a seed? From seed to fruit, all things, whether manifest or unmanifest, are contained therein.
कल्पः कस्य निमेषस्य जीवस्येवान्तरे स्थितः । कः प्रयोजककर्तृत्वम् अप्य् अनाश्रित्य कारकः
Of which instant is an age contained within, as life is within a living being? What acts as the agent of action, even without relying on any doer?
दृश्यसम्पत्तये द्रष्टाप्य् आत्मानं दृश्यतां नयेत् । दृश्यं पश्यन् स्वम् आत्मानं को न पश्यति नेत्रवत्
For the sake of perceivable wealth, the seer may make himself the seen; yet, seeing the seen, who does not see his own self, as the eye does not see itself?
अन्तर्गलितदृश्यं च क आत्मानम् अखण्डितम् । दृश्यासम्पत्तये पश्यन् पुरो दृश्यं न पश्यति
Who, seeing the undivided Self into which all objects have merged, does not see the external objects, even when they appear before him?
आत्मानं दर्शनं दृश्यं को भासयति दृश्यवत् । कटकादीनि हेम्नेव निगीर्णं केन च त्रयम्
Who illumines the Self, the act of seeing, and the seen, just as gold pervades ornaments like a bangle, and by whom are these three absorbed?
कस्मान् न किञ्चिच् च पृथग् ऊर्म्यादीव महाम्भसः । कस्येच्छया पृथक् चास्ति वीचितेव महाम्भसः
Why does nothing remain separate, like waves in the great ocean, and by whose will does anything appear distinct, like foam upon the vast sea?
दिक्कालाद्यनवच्छिन्नाद् एकस्माद् असतस् सतः । द्वैतम् अप्य् अपृथक् कस्माद् द्रवतेव महाम्भसः
From that one, unlimited by space, time, and other conditions, which is both unreal and real, why does even duality not remain separate, but seems to dissolve like water in the great ocean?
आत्मानं दर्शनं दृश्यं सद् असच् च गतक्रमम् । को ऽन्तर्बीजम् इवाङ्गस्थं स्थितः कृत्वा त्रिकालगम्
Who, having established within himself the Self, the act of seeing, and the seen—both real and unreal, and all that moves through the three times—remains as the inner seed, like a seed within a limb?
भूतभव्यभविष्यस्थं जगद्वृन्दं बृहद्भ्रमम् । नित्यं समस्य कस्यान्तर् बीजस्यान्तर् इव द्रुमः
Within whom does the vast, whirling multitude of worlds—existing in past, present, and future—always abide equally, as a tree abides within the seed?
बीजं द्रुमतयैवाशु द्रुमो बीजतयैव च । स्वयम् एकम् असद्रूपम् उदेत्य् अनुदितो ऽपि कः
Who, though not arisen, arises by himself as the one, formless essence—just as the seed quickly becomes the tree, and the tree in turn becomes the seed?
बिसतन्तुर् महामेरुर् भो राजन् यदपेक्षया । तस्य कस्योदरे सन्ति मेरुमन्दरकोटयः
O King, in relation to whom do the peaks of Meru and Mandara exist within the belly of a lotus fiber or the great Meru itself?
केनेदम् आततम् अनेकचिद् एव विश्वं किंसार एवम् अभिवल्गसि हंसि पासि । किंदर्शनेन न भवस्य् अथ वा सद् एव नूनं भवस्य् असमदृग् वद तत्प्रशान्त्यै
By whom is this universe, with its countless forms, spread out? Why do you so fiercely boast, destroy, and protect? With what vision do you not become, or do you indeed become, existence itself? Surely you are not of equal sight—tell me, so that this may be calmed.
एषो ऽसौ प्रगलतु संशयो ममोच्चैश् चित्तश्रीमुखमिहिकामलानुलेपः । यस्याग्रे न गलति संशयस् समूलो नैवासौ क्वचिद् अपि पण्डितोक्तिम् एति
Let this doubt of mine dissolve completely, like the fading of dew on the lotus face of the mind. If doubt does not vanish at its root, then even the words of the wise never truly reach anywhere.
एनं मे यदि न नयिष्यथः क्रमोक्त्या संशान्तिं लघुतरसंशयं सुबुद्धी । तद् रक्षोजठरहुताशनेन्धनत्वं निर्विघ्नं झगिति गमिष्यथः क्षणेन
If you do not lead me, step by step, to the cessation of this doubt, making it lighter with sound understanding, then you will swiftly become fuel for the fire in the belly of the demon, and will be consumed without hindrance in a moment.
पश्चात् तां जनपदमण्डलीं समन्ताद् भावत्कीम् उरुजठरा क्षणाद् ग्रसे ऽहम् । एवं ते भवति सुराजतेव मन्ये मूर्खानाम् अतिरस एव सङ्क्षयाय
Afterwards, I will devour that entire region and its people, all around, with the hunger of my belly in an instant. Thus, for you, it will be as if a good king rules; but I think that excessive delight is always ruinous for fools.
इत्य् उक्त्वा विपुलगभीरमेघनाद प्रोल्लासप्रकटगिरा निशाचरी सा । तूष्णीम् अप्य् अतिविकटाकृतिस् तदासीच् छुद्धान्तश्शरदमलाभ्रमण्डलीव
Having spoken thus, with a voice deep and vast as thunderclouds, the night-dweller, with her fierce and terrifying form, became silent, pure within, like a spotless autumn cloud.