अथाहम् उद्यतो गन्तुं दृष्टवान् पुरुषं पुनः । तादृशं तादृशाचारं प्रयतन्तं तथैव च
Then, as I was about to leave, I saw that man again—just the same as before, behaving in the same way, making the same efforts.
अवष्टभ्य तथैवाशु तस्य प्रोक्तं पुनर् मया । तथैवोत्पलपत्राक्ष नासौ तद् अवबुद्धवान्
Once more, I quickly approached and spoke to him in the same manner, but, O lotus-eyed one, he did not understand at all.
केवलं माम् असौ मूढो नैव जानामि किञ्चन । आः पाप दुर्द्विजेत्य् उक्त्वा स्वव्यापारपारो ययौ
That foolish man merely said to me, 'I do not know anything at all—ah, wicked, evil Brahmin!' and then went off, absorbed in his own affairs.
अथ तस्मिन् महारण्ये तथा विहरता मया । बहवस् तादृशा दृष्टाः पुरुषा दोषकारिणः
Then, as I wandered in that great forest, I saw many such men, all engaged in wrongdoing.
मत्पृष्टाः केचिद् आयान्ति स्वप्नसम्भ्रमवच् छमम् । मदुक्तं नाभिनन्दन्ति केचिच् छ्वविरुतं यथा
Some, when questioned by me, would approach as if in a dreamlike confusion and then become calm; others did not welcome my words, just as dogs ignore barking.
विनिपत्यान्धकूपेभ्यः केचिन् न प्रोत्थिताः पुनः । कदलीषण्डकात् केचिच् चिरेणापि न निर्गताः
Some, having fallen into dark pits, never rose again; others, caught in thickets of plantain trees, did not emerge even after a long time.
केचिद् अन्तर्हितास् स्फारे करञ्जवनकुञ्जके । न क्वचित् स्थितिम् आयान्ति केचिद् भ्रमपरायणाः
Some disappeared within the dense groves of karanja trees and never settled anywhere; others wandered about, devoted only to aimless roaming.
एवंविधा सा वितता रघूद्वह महाटवी । अद्यापि विद्यते यस्याम् इत्थं ते पुरुषास् स्थिताः
O best of the Raghu lineage, such is the vast forest, which even today exists, wherein people remain in this manner.
सा च दृष्टाटवी राम त्वयेह व्यवहारिणा । बाल्यात् तु बुद्धितत्त्वस्य न त्वं स्मरसि राघव
O Rama, as one engaged in worldly life, you have seen that forest here; but due to the immaturity of understanding in childhood, you do not remember it, O descendant of Raghu.
सा भीषणा विविधसङ्कटसङ्कटाङ्गी घोराटवी घनतमोगहना च लोकैः । आगत्य निर्वृतिम् अबुद्धिहतैर् न तज्ज्ञैर् आसेव्यते कुसुमगुल्मकवाटिकेव
That dreadful forest, filled with various dangers and perils, dense with thickest darkness, is not frequented by the wise, but only by those whose minds are clouded, just as a garden of flowering shrubs is not visited by them.
कासौ महाटवी ब्रह्मन् कदा दृष्टा कथं मया । के च ते पुरुषास् तत्र किं तत् कर्तुं कृतोद्यमाः
O Brahman, what is that great forest? When did I see it, and how? Who are those people there, and what are they striving to do?
रघुनाथ महाबाहो शृणु वक्ष्यामि ते ऽखिलम् । न सा महाटवी नाम दूरे नैव च ते नराः
O mighty-armed Raghunatha, listen, I will tell you everything: that great forest is not far away, nor are those people distant from you.
येयं संसारपदवी गम्भीरासारकोटरा । तां त्वं शून्यां विकाराढ्यां विद्धि राम महाटवीम्
This very path of worldly existence, deep and hollow, know, O Rama, that empty and ever-changing one as the great forest.
विचारालोकलभ्येन यदैकेनैव वस्तुना । पूर्णा नान्येन संयुक्ता केवलैव तदैव सा
That forest is filled by the one thing attainable through the light of inquiry; it is not joined by anything else, it exists solely as that alone.
तत्र ये ते महाकाराः पुरुषाः प्रसरन्ति हि । मनांसि तानि विद्धि त्वं दुःखे निपतितान्य् अलम्
Those mighty beings who move about there—know them to be the minds, fallen into suffering.
द्रष्टा यो ऽयम् अहं तेषां सविवेको महामते । विवेकेन मया तानि दृष्टान्य् अन्यानि राघव
O wise one, I am the witness who perceives them all with discernment; by means of discrimination, O Raghava, I have seen those and other things.
मया तान्य् एव बुध्यन्ते विवेकेन मनांसि हि । सततं स्वप्रकाशेन कमलानीव भानुना
It is by my discernment alone that these minds are understood by me, just as lotuses are ever revealed by the sun’s own light.
मत्प्रबोधं समासाद्य मत्प्रसादान् महामते । मनांसि कानिचित् तानि गतान्य् उपशमात् परम्
Having attained my awakening and through my grace, O wise one, some of those minds have reached supreme tranquility and have ceased.
कानिचिन् नाभिनन्दन्ति मां विवेकं विमोहतः । मत्तिरस्कारवशतः कूपेष्व् एव पतन्त्य् उत
Some do not welcome me, discernment, due to delusion; under the sway of rejection by me, they fall into pits indeed.
ये ते ऽन्धकूपा गहना नरकास् ते रघूद्वह । मनांसि तानि तेष्व् अन्तर् निपतन्त्य् उत्पतन्ति च
Those deep, blind pits, O descendant of Raghu, are known as hells; into them those minds fall and rise again within.
यत् तत् करञ्जगहनं तत् कलत्ररसं विदुः । दुःखकण्टकसम्बाधं मानुष्यं त्रिविधैषणम्
That which is called the dense karañja thicket is known as the taste of sensual pleasure; human life, beset with the thorns of suffering, is driven by threefold craving.
करञ्जगहनं यानि प्रविष्टानि मनांसि तु । मानुष्ये तानि जातानि तत्रैकरसिकानि च
The minds that have entered the karañja thicket are born as humans there, and in that state they are absorbed in a single flavor.
कदलीकाननं यत् तच् छशाङ्ककरशीतलम् । तन् मनोह्लादनकरं स्वर्गं विद्धि रघूद्वह
That which is the plantain grove, cool with the rays of the moon, O descendant of Raghu, know that as heaven, which brings delight to the mind.
कदलीकाननं यानि सम्प्रविष्टानि तानि तु । स्वर्गैकरसिकानि त्वं मनांसि ज्ञातुम् अर्हसि
Just as whatever enters a grove of plantains becomes immersed in it, so too, you should understand, O Rāma, that minds absorbed solely in heavenly pleasures are of such a nature.
प्रविष्टान्य् अन्धकूपान्तर् निर्गतानि न यानि तु । महापातकयुक्तानि तानि चित्तानि राघव
Those minds, O Rāghava, which have entered into a deep, dark pit and have not emerged, are bound up with great sins.
करञ्जवनयातानि निर्गतानि न यानि तु । तानि मानुष्यजातानि चित्तानि रघुनन्दन
Those minds, O delight of the Raghu lineage, which have entered a grove of karanja trees and have not come out, are the minds belonging to human beings.
कानिचित् सम्प्रबुद्धानि तत्र मुक्तानि बन्धनात् । कानिचिद् बहुरूपाणि योनेर् योनिं विशन्ति हि
Some of them, having awakened there, are freed from bondage; others, taking on many forms, enter from one womb into another.
कानिचित् पुण्यपूतेन तपसा दारुणात्मना । धारयन्ति शरीराणि संस्थितान्य् उचितान्य् च
Some, purified by meritorious austerity, though possessing a harsh nature, sustain bodies that are stable and appropriate.
यैर् अहं पुम्भिर् अबुधैर् दुर्द्विजेति तिरस्कृतः । तैर् मनोभिर् अनात्मज्ञैस् स्वविवेकतिरस्कृतः
By those ignorant men, who rejected me as a wicked one, by those minds devoid of self-knowledge, their own discernment has been cast aside.
त्वया दृष्टो विनष्टो ऽस्मि शत्रुर् मे त्वम् इति द्रुतम् । यद् उक्तं तद् धि चित्तेन गलता परिदेवितम्
Whatever is said in haste by the mind—'I have been destroyed by you, you are my enemy'—such lamentation is uttered by the mind as it slips away.