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.
सुतापि नीता सह तेन भर्त्रा यमेन यास्या यमुना समाना । तमालवल्ली सहपुष्पगुच्छा समीरणेनेव वनेचरेण
My daughter too was taken away by her husband, and will go to Yama, the lord of death, just as the Yamuna river joins the Yamuna, like a forest wanderer with a cluster of flowers carried by the breeze.
हा पुत्रि गुञ्जाफलदामहारे समुन्नताभोगपयोधराङ्गि । वातोल्लसत्कज्जलनीलवर्णे पर्णाम्बरे ऽबाधरजे ऽम्बुदन्ते
Alas, my daughter, with a gunja berry necklace and full, rounded breasts, wearing a garment of leaves, blue as the water stirred by the wind, untroubled by dust at the edge of the clouds.
हा राजपुत्रेन्दुसमान कान्त सन्त्यज्य शुद्धान्तविलासिनीस् ताः । रतिं प्रयातो ऽसि ममात्मजायां न सापि ते सुस्थिरताम् उपेता
Alas, prince, radiant as the moon, you abandoned those pure, graceful women and sought pleasure with my own daughter; yet she did not attain lasting happiness with you.
संसारनद्यास् स्वतरङ्गभङ्गैः क्रियाविलासैर् विहितोपहासैः । किं नाम तुच्छं न कृतं नृपो ऽसौ यद् योजितः पुक्कसकन्यकायाम्
In the river of worldly existence, with its own waves breaking and playful activities mocking, what trivial thing has not been done by that king, who was joined to the daughter of a pukkasa?
सा त्रस्तसारङ्गसमाननेत्रा स तृप्तशार्दूलसमानवीर्यः । उभौ गताव् एकपदेन नाशम् आशा सहार्थेन यथा च हेम
She, whose eyes resembled those of a frightened deer, and he, whose strength matched that of a satisfied lion—both departed together in a single step into destruction, just as hope and wealth vanish, like gold.
मृतेश्वरास्म्य् अस्तमितात्मजास्मि दुर्देशयातास्मि च दुर्गतास्मि । दुर्जातजातास्मि महापदास्मि साक्षात् स्वयं वोन्नमितापदास्मि
I am the wife of a dead lord, my children have faded away, I have traveled to a foreign land, I am destitute, born into a low lineage, afflicted by great misfortune, and I myself am the witness to my own downfall.
नीचावमानप्रभवस्य मन्योः क्षुधावसन्नस्य कलत्रकस्य । शोकस्य वेगाद् अनिवार्यवृत्तेर् नार्यस् सदैकायतनं विनाथाः
Women, the sole refuge for those humiliated by contempt, weakened by hunger, burdened by family, and overwhelmed by unstoppable grief, are left without support except for their own bodies.
दैवोपतप्तस्य विबान्धवस्य मूढस्य रूढस्य महाधिभूमौ । यत् प्राणनं तन् मरणं महापद् या स्यान् मृतिर् जीवितम् उत्तमं तत्
For one afflicted by fate, separated from relatives, confused and deeply rooted in suffering, living is the same as dying; great misfortune makes death life’s highest blessing.
जनैर् विहीनस्य विदेशवृत्तेर् दुःखान्य् अनन्तानि समुल्लसन्ति । सहस्रशाखारससङ्कुलानि तृणानि वर्षास्व् इव पर्वतस्य
For one deprived of people, living in a foreign land, endless sorrows arise, crowded together like thousands of branches and blades of grass on a mountain during the rains.
एवं लपन्तीं स्वकलत्रवृद्धां दासिभिर् आश्वास्य नृपस् स्त्रियं ताम् । पप्रच्छ किं वृत्तम् इहासि का च का ते सुता कश् च पतिस् तवेति
After comforting the woman, aged with her own family, with the help of maidservants, the king asked her: 'What has happened here? Who are you? Who is your daughter? And who is your husband?'