वहत्सु कल्पवातेषु स्थित एव महार्णवे । क्षीणेषु भूतवृन्देषु ते तथैव व्यवस्थिताः
While the cosmic winds blow and the great ocean remains, even as the hosts of beings diminish, those remain just as they are.
अद्य प्रबुद्धे भवति द्रष्टुम् इच्छति संसृतिम् । स्वकेनैव क्रमेणोच्चैस् ते तथैव व्यवस्थिताः
Today, when one awakens and wishes to perceive the cycle of existence, by his own sequence, those remain just as they are.
त एते भगवन् ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मणो ब्राह्मणा दश । त एते दश संसारा मनोव्योमनि संस्थिताः
These, O venerable Brahman, are the ten Brāhmaṇas of Brahmā; these ten worlds of transmigration are established in the sky of the mind.
तेषाम् एकतमस्यायम् अहम् आकाशमन्दिरः । भानुर् भुवि विभो कालकलाकर्मणि योजितः
Of these, I am one, the sky-temple; O Lord, the sun on earth is engaged in the acts of time and its divisions.
एष ते कथितस् सर्गो दशानाम् अब्जसम्भव । ब्रह्मणां सम्भवो व्योम्नि यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु
Thus, O lotus-born, I have described to you the creation of the ten Brāhmaṇas; their origin in the sky—do as you wish.
विविधकल्पनम् आवलिताम्बरं यद् इदम् उत्तमजागतम् उत्थितम् । किरणजालकमोहितमोहनं तद् अखिलं निजचेतसि विभ्रमः
All this highest world, with its various imaginations and veiled sky, arisen and enchanted by a net of rays, is entirely a play of your own mind.
ब्राह्मण ब्रह्मणो भानुर् इत्य् उक्त्वा ब्रह्मणो मम । ब्रह्मन् ब्रह्मविदां श्रेष्ठ तूष्णीम् एव बभूव सः
Having said, 'O Brāhmaṇa, the sun is of Brahman,' and, 'O Brahman, he is mine,' that best of knowers of Brahman then became silent.
तत उक्तं मया तस्य चिरम् सञ्चिन्त्य चेतसा । भानोर् भानो वदाशु त्वं किम् अन्यत् संसृजाम्य् अहम्
Then, after pondering for a long time in my mind, I said to him: 'O Sun, O radiant one, speak quickly—what else should I create?'
एतानि दश विद्यन्ते किल यत्र जगन्ति हि । तत्रान्यो मम सर्गेण को ऽर्थः कथय भास्कर
Surely, there are said to be ten worlds existing—what further purpose is there for me in creation? Tell me, O Sun.
निरीहस्य निरिच्छस्य को ऽर्थस् सर्गेण ते प्रभो । विनोदमात्रम् एवेयं सृष्टिस् तव जगत्पते
For you, O Lord, who are without desire and without intention, what use is there in creation? This creation is merely a diversion for you, O Lord of the universe.
निष्कामाद् एव भवतस् सर्गस् सम्पद्यते प्रभो । अर्काद् इव जलादित्यः प्रतिबिम्बम् इवाधियः
Indeed, O Lord, your creation arises only from absence of desire—just as water reflects the sun, or as the mind reflects an image.
शरीरसन्निवेशस्य त्यागे रागे मते यदा । निष्कामो भगवन् भावो नाभिवाञ्छति नोज्झति
When there is abandonment of attachment to bodily form, and when passion and opinion are relinquished, O Blessed One, the desireless mind neither craves nor rejects.
सृजसीदं तदा देव विनोदायैव भूतप । पुनस् संहृत्य संहृत्य दिनं दिनपतिर् यथा
Then, O Lord of beings, you create this world only for diversion, repeatedly manifesting and dissolving it, just as the sun brings forth and withdraws the day.
तव नित्यम् असंसक्तविनोदायैव केवलम् । इदं कर्तव्यम् एवेति जगन् न तु घनेच्छया
For you, it is always solely for unattached play that this is to be done—this world is not made from intense desire, but simply because it is to be done.
सृष्टिं न च करोषि त्वम् अहर्व्यापारम् आत्मनः । नित्यकर्मपरित्यागात् किम् अपूर्वम् अवाप्स्यसि
You do not create the world as a personal daily activity; by abandoning obligatory action, what new result could you possibly attain?
यथाप्राप्तं हि कर्तव्यम् असक्तेन सता सदा । मकुरेणाकलङ्केन प्रतिबिम्बक्रिया यथा
One should always perform what is to be done as it comes, without attachment, like a spotless mirror reflecting images.
यथैव कर्मकरणे कामना नास्ति धीमतः । तथैवाकर्मकरणे कामना नास्ति धीमतः
Just as a wise person has no desire when performing action, so too, the wise have no desire when not acting.
अतस् सुषुप्तोपमया वृत्त्या निष्कामयानया । सुप्तप्रबुद्धसमया कुरु कार्यं यथागतम्
Therefore, with a disposition like dreamless sleep, free from desire, act as situations arise, whether in waking or sleeping states.
सर्गैर् अथेन्दुपुत्राणां तोषम् एति जगत् प्रभो । तदैते तोषयिष्यन्ति न त्वां सर्गास् सुरेश्वर
O Lord, the world finds satisfaction through the creations of the mind-born sons of the moon; thus, these creations will bring them satisfaction, but not you, O Lord of gods.
चित्तनेत्रैर् भवान् एतान् सर्गान् पश्यति नो दृशा । अपश्यंश् चक्षुषा सर्गं सृष्टम् इत्य् एव वेत्ति कः
You perceive these creations with the eye of the mind, not with the physical eye; who, not seeing with the eye, can know that creation has arisen?
येनैव मनसा सर्गो निर्मितः परमेश्वर । स एव मांसनेत्रेण तं पश्यति हि नेतरः
By the very mind with which creation was fashioned, O Supreme Lord, that alone perceives it through the physical eye, not otherwise.
न चैतान् दश संसारान् दशनीरजसम्भवान् । कश्चिन् नाशयितुं शक्तश् चितो दार्ढ्याच् चिरं स्थितान्
No one is able to destroy these ten cycles of worldly existence, born of the dust of the senses, for they persist long due to the firmness of the mind.
कर्मेन्द्रियैर् यत् क्रियते तद् रोद्धुं किल युज्यते । न मनोनिश्चयकृतं कश्चिद् रोधयितुं क्षमः
What is done by the organs of action can indeed be restrained, but no one is able to restrain what is determined by the mind.
यो बद्धपदतां यातो जन्तोर् मनसि निश्चयः । स तेनैव विना ब्रह्मन् नान्येन विनिवार्यते
O Brahman, the resolve that has become firmly established in a person's mind cannot be undone except by that very resolve itself, not by any other means.
बहुकालं यद् अभ्यस्तं मनसा दृढनिश्चयम् । शापेनापि न तस्यास्ति क्षयो नष्टे ऽपि देहके
Whatever has been practiced in the mind with strong determination for a long time does not perish, even by a curse, nor even when the body is destroyed.
यद् बद्धपीठम् अभितो मनसि प्ररूढं तद्रूप एव पुरुषो भवतीह नान्यः । तद्बोधनाद् इतरम् अत्र किलाभ्युपायं शैलौघम् एकम् इव निष्फलम् एव मन्ये
Whatever form is firmly seated in the mind, the person here indeed becomes that and nothing else; apart from awakening to this, I consider all other methods as fruitless as trying to move a mountain.
श्रूयते हि पुरा देव मगधेषु महीपतिः । इन्द्रद्युम्न इति ख्यात इन्द्रद्युम्न इवापरः
It is heard that long ago, O Deva, there was a king among the Magadhas named Indradyumna, renowned like another Indradyumna.
तस्येन्दुबिम्बप्रतिमा भार्या कमललोचना । अहल्या नाम तत्रासीच् छशाङ्कस्येव रोहिणी
His wife, named Ahalya, lotus-eyed and resembling the disc of the moon, was like Rohini to the moon.
तस्मिन्न् एव पुरे शिड्गः किलासीद् बलवान् इति । इन्द्रनामापरः कश्चिच् छ्रीमान् विप्रकुमारकः
In that very city, there was a powerful and wealthy young Brahmin named Indra, also called by that name.
अहल्या पूर्वम् इन्द्रस्य बभूवेष्टेत्य् अहल्यया । श्रुतं राजमहिष्याथ कथाप्रस्तावतः क्वचित्
Once, in the course of conversation, Queen Ahalya heard that in former times she had been desired by Indra.