ईषद्विदन् स्वयं चित्त्वाद् अन्यताम् इव पश्यति । बुध्यते सर्ग इत्य् एव शमाच् छाम्यति शाश्वतम्
By a slight movement, consciousness appears as if it is other; this alone is known as creation, and from peace it subsides into the eternal.
सर्गस् तु परमार्थस्य सञ्ज्ञेत्य् एव विनिश्चयः । न नास्ति नायम् अस्त्य् अन्तर् अम्बरस्य यथाम्बरम्
Creation is merely a designation for the highest reality—this is the conclusion; it is neither absent nor present within, just as space is within space.
चित्त्वात् सर्गसमापत्तिर् अचित्त्वात् सर्गसङ्क्षयः । परे परमं संशान्ते हेम्नीव कटकभ्रमः
Through mind, creation arises; through absence of mind, creation dissolves. In the supreme, utterly tranquil, the illusion of creation is like a bracelet imagined in gold.
सन्न् एव सर्गो ऽसर्गत्वम् एति वित्त्वशमोदये । असत् सत्ताम् अवाप्नोति स्वतस् संवेदनोदये
Though creation exists, it becomes non-creation when the sense of ownership is relinquished; the unreal attains reality when self-awareness arises from itself.
संवेदनम् अहम्भावसर्गसम्भवसम्भ्रमः । असंवेदनम् आशान्तं परं विद्धि न तज् जडम्
Awareness is the arising of the sense of 'I' and the confusion of creation; know that non-awareness is the supreme peace—not inertness.
नानेन सर्गो नानायं ज्ञास्यैकात्मा शिवात्मकः । पुस्तकर्मकृता सेना मृण्मयी शिल्पिनां यथा
By this, creation is not manifold, nor is this manifold; the knower is one, of the nature of auspiciousness—like an army made of clay by craftsmen in a book or by their hands.
इदं पूर्णम् अनारम्भम् अनन्तम् अनवोदयम् । पूर्णे पूर्णं परापूरैः पूर्वम् एवावतिष्ठते
This is complete, without beginning, infinite, and without arising; in the complete, the complete stands established from the very beginning, even with the influx of other completions.
यद् अयं लक्ष्यते सर्गस् तद् ब्रह्म ब्रह्मणि स्थितम् । नभो नभसि विश्रान्तं शान्तं शान्ते शिवं शिवे
Whatever is perceived as creation, that is Brahman, abiding in Brahman; as space rests in space, peace in peace, auspiciousness in auspiciousness.
मकुरप्रतिबिम्बस्थे नगरे नगरं जने । यथा दूरम् अदूरं च तथेशे तदतत्क्रमः
As a city reflected in a mirror appears within the mirror to the people, so, in the Lord, nearness and distance, this and not-this, are all established.
असद् अभ्युत्थितं विश्वं सद् अप्य् अभ्युदितं सदा । प्रतिभासात् सदाभासम् अवस्तुत्वाद् असन्मयम्
The universe arises from the unreal, and even when it appears real, it is always merely an appearance; because it is only a semblance, it is essentially unreal.
आदर्शनगराकारे मृगतृष्णाम्बुभास्वरे । द्विचन्द्रविभ्रमाभासे सर्गे ऽस्मिन् केव सत्यता
In this creation, which resembles a city reflected in a mirror, the shimmer of water in a mirage, or the illusion of seeing two moons, where is any true reality?
मायाचूर्णपरिक्षेपाद् यथा व्योम्नि पुरभ्रमः । तथा संविदि संसारस् सारो ऽसारश् च भासते
Just as the scattering of magical powder creates the illusion of a city in the sky, so too, within consciousness, the essence and non-essence of samsara appear.
यावद् विचारदहनेन समूलदाहं दग्धा न जर्जरलतेव बलाद् अविद्या । शाखाप्रतानगहना गहनानि तावन् नानाविधानि सुखदुःखवनानि सूते
As long as ignorance, with its dense branches and thickets, is not completely burned away at the root by the fire of inquiry, it continues to produce various forests of pleasure and pain.
हेमोर्मिकादिवन् मिथ्या कचितायाः क्षयोन्मुखम् । त्वम् अहन्त्वम् अविद्यायाश् शृणु राघव कीदृशम्
Listen, Raghava, to how the dissolution of ignorance, which is woven like a wave of gold and is false, takes place, and how the sense of 'I' and 'mine' fades away.
लवणो ऽसौ महीपालस् तदा दृष्ट्वा तथा भ्रमम् । द्वितीये दिवसे गन्तुं प्रवृत्तस् तां महाटवीम्
That king Lavana, having witnessed such confusion, set out on the second day to enter that great forest.
यत् तद् दृष्टं मया दुःखम् अरण्यानीं स्मरामि ताम् । चित्तादर्शगता चित्त्वात् कदाचिल् लभ्यते च सा
I remember the suffering I saw in that wilderness; it sometimes appears in the mirror of the mind, and sometimes it is experienced.
इति निश्चित्य सचिवैस् स ययौ दक्षिणापथम् । पुनर् दिग्विजयायैव प्राप विन्ध्यमहीधरम्
Having resolved thus with his ministers, he went southward, and again, for the sake of conquest, reached the Vindhya mountains.
पूर्वदक्षिणपाश्चात्यमहार्णवतटस्थलीम् । बभ्राम कौतुकात् सर्वां व्योमवीथीम् इवोष्णरुक्
He wandered out of curiosity over the entire land along the shores of the great ocean to the east, south, and west, like the path of the sun in the sky.
अथैकस्मिन् प्रदेशे तां भित्ताव् इव पुरोगताम् । ददर्शोग्राम् अरण्यानीं परलोकमहीम् इव
Then, in one place, he saw that wild forest ahead of him, as if it were a wall, like the realm of the next world.
सर्वत्र विहरंस् तांस् तान् वृत्तान्तान् सकलान् अपि । दृष्टवान् दृष्टवांश् चैव ज्ञातवांश् च विसिस्मये
Roaming everywhere, he saw and observed all those various events, and, having understood them, he was amazed.
तान् परिज्ञातवांश् चासीद् व्याधान् पुक्कसजान् पुरः । विस्मयाकुलया बुद्ध्या भूयो बभ्राम सम्भ्रमी
He also recognized those hunters, the outcaste Pukkasas, standing before him, and with a mind overwhelmed by wonder, he wandered on, bewildered.
अथ प्राप महाटव्याः पर्यन्ते धूमधूसरम् । तम् एव ग्रामकं यस्मिन् सो ऽभवत् पुष्टपुक्कसः
Then he reached the edge of the great forest, gray with smoke and dust, to that very village where he had once been a thriving Pukkasa.
तत्रापश्यज् जनांस् तांस् तांस् स्त्रियस् तास् ताः कुटीरिकाः । तान् आरामाञ् जलाधारांस् तांस् तांश् च वसुधातटान्
There he saw those people, those women, those little huts, those gardens, streams, and those stretches of land.
तं चाकाण्डपरिभ्रंशं तान् वृक्षांस् तान् वृतिव्रजान् । तांस् तथैव समुद्देशांस् तद्वृत्तान्तैकलाञ्छितान्
He saw that sudden ruin, those trees, those herds of cattle, and those very places marked by the events that had occurred there.
अन्यासु वृद्धासु सबाष्पनेत्रास्व् आर्त्याभियुक्तासु च वर्णयन्ती । अकालकान्तारविशीर्णबन्धुदुःखान्य् असङ्ख्यानि सखी सखीषु
Elsewhere, among the old women with tearful eyes, afflicted by sorrow, one friend described to another the countless griefs of losing loved ones untimely in the forest.
वृद्धा प्रवृद्धोज्ज्वलबाष्पानेत्र कन्थावृता शुष्ककुचा कृशाङ्गी । अवग्रहोग्राशनिदग्धदेशे तत्रान्तरान्ता परिरोदितीयम्
Aged, greatly afflicted, her eyes bright with tears, her throat choked, her breasts dried, her body emaciated—she wails in the midst of the place scorched by the fierce fire of grief.
हा पुत्र पुत्रावृतसर्वगात्र दिनत्रयाभोजनजर्जराङ्ग । कृत्तेशुना चर्मणि जीर्णदेहात् कथं क्व मुक्ता भवतासवस् ते
Alas, my son! My body, covered with wounds and weakened by three days without food, is worn out; how, where, did your life depart from your mutilated, decaying body?
तालीलतालम्बनम् अम्बुदार्द्रदन्तान्तरस्थारुणसत्फलस्य । स्मरामि गुञ्जाफलदामहेतोः पुरस् स्ववध्वा रसहासिनस् ते
I remember the garland of gunja berries, the sweet laughter with your wife, the ripe fruit held between your moist teeth, and the playful swinging from the palm tree.
कदम्बजम्बीरलवङ्गगुञ्जकुञ्जान्तर् अत्रस्ततरत्तरक्षोः । पश्यामि पुत्रस्य कदा नु भूयो भयङ्कराण्य् आप्लुतिवल्गितानि
In the groves of kadamba, jambira, clove, and gunja, where wild beasts roam, when will I again see my son's leaps and plunges into those terrifying places?
न तानि ताम्बूलविलासिनीनां मुखेषु शोभललितानि सन्ति । तमालनीले चिबुकैकदेशे सुतस्य यान्य् आस्यगतामिषस्य
Those charming marks are not found on the lips of women who delight in chewing betel; they were on the blue cheek of my son, left by the meat he had eaten.