भिद्यते नावभग्नो ऽपि दग्धो ऽपि हि न दह्यते । दृश्यते नातिदृश्यो ऽपि धूर्तचूडामणिर् मुने
It is not broken though struck, nor burned though scorched; it is seen yet not fully visible, O sage, the crown jewel of tricksters.
एकेनैव निमेषेण किञ्चिद् उत्थापयत्य् अलम् । किञ्चिद् विनाशयत्य् उच्चैर् मनोराज्यवद् आततः
In a single blink, it easily raises something up and destroys something else, spreading out like a kingdom of imagination.
दुर्विलासविलासिन्या चेष्टया कष्टपुष्टया । दर्व्येव सूपकृत् सूपं जनम् आवर्तयन् स्थितः
With its difficult and robust play, indulging in harsh pleasures, it stirs people like a cook stirring soup with a ladle.
तृणं पांसुं महेन्द्रं च सुमेरुं पर्णम् अर्णवम् । आत्मस्फारतया सर्वम् आत्मसात्कर्तुम् उद्यतः
Whether grass, dust, the great Indra, Mount Sumeru, a leaf, or the ocean, it is ready to absorb everything into itself by its own expansion.
क्रौर्यम् अत्रैव पर्याप्तं लुब्धतात्रैव संस्थिता । सर्वं दौर्भाग्यम् अत्रैव सर्वम् अत्रैव चापलम्
Here alone is cruelty sufficient, greed established, all misfortune present, and all restlessness found.
प्रेरयंल् लीलयार्केन्दू क्रीडतीह नभस्तले । निक्षिप्तवीटायुगलो निजे बाल इवाङ्गने
Playfully moving the sun and moon in the sky, it sports here as if a child in its own courtyard, tossing its toys.
सर्वभूतास्थिमालाभिर् आपादवलिताकृतिः । विलसत्य् एष कल्पान्ते कालः कल्पितकल्पनः
At the end of the aeon, Time, imagined as the creator of all imaginings, shines forth, its form wrapped in garlands made from the bones of all beings.
अस्योड्डामरनृत्तस्य कल्पान्ते ऽङ्गविनिर्गतैः । प्रस्फुरत्य् अम्बरे मेरुर् भूर्जत्वग् इव वायुभिः
At the end of the aeon, as it dances wildly, Meru mountain quivers in the sky, shaken by the limbs cast off in its fierce dance, like birch bark stirred by the wind.
रुद्रो भूत्वा भवत्य् एष महेन्द्रो ऽथ पितामहः । शुक्रो वैश्रवणश् चापि पुनर् एव न किञ्चन
It becomes Rudra, then Mahendra, then the Grandfather; it is Shukra, it is Vaishravana, and again, it is nothing at all.
धत्ते ऽजस्रोत्थितध्वस्तान् सर्गान् अमितभासुरान् । अन्यान् अन्यान् अप्य् अनन्यान् वीचीन् अब्धिर् इवात्मनि
It bears within itself countless creations, brilliant and destroyed, rising ceaselessly, each distinct yet inseparable, like waves in the ocean.
महाकल्पाभिधानेभ्यो वृक्षेभ्यः परिशातयन् । देवासुरगणान् पक्वान् फलभारान् अवस्थितः
Standing amidst the trees named after great aeons, it shakes down the ripe fruits—gods and demons—gathered in clusters.
आलोलभूतमषकघुङ्घुमानां प्रपातिनाम् । ब्रह्माण्डोडुम्बरौघानां बृहत्पादपतां गतः
It strides with vast feet among swarms of universes, buzzing like restless gnats and falling, tossed about.
सत्तामात्रकुमुद्वत्या चिज्ज्योत्स्नापरिफुल्लया । वपुर् विनोदयत्य् एकः क्रियाप्रियतमान्वितः
With the lotus of pure existence blossoming under the radiance of consciousness, it delights in its own form, accompanied by its beloved actions.
अनन्तापायपर्यन्तं बद्धपीठं निजं वपुः । महाशैलवद् उत्तुङ्गम् अवलम्ब्य व्यवस्थितः
It establishes its own form, boundless from beginning to end, set high like a great mountain, and remains steadfast.
क्वचिच् छ्यामातमश्श्यामं क्वचित् कान्तियुतं ततम् । द्वयेनापि क्रमाद् रिक्तं स्वभावं भावयन् स्थितः
At times, he appears dark as a shadow, at times, he shines with radiance; yet, by turns, he remains empty of both, abiding in his own nature.
संलीनासङ्ख्यसंसारसारया स्वात्मसत्तया । गुर्वीव भारघनया निबद्धपदतां गतः
Merged with the essence of countless worlds through the reality of his own self, he stands fixed, as if bound by a great and weighty mass.
न खिद्यते न म्रियते नायाति न च गच्छति । नास्तम् एति न चोदेति महाकल्पशतैर् अपि
He does not suffer, nor does he die; he neither comes nor goes; he neither sets nor rises, even through hundreds of great aeons.
केवलं जगदारम्भलीलया घनहेलया । यापयत्य् आत्मनात्मानम् अनहङ्कारम् आगतम्
Only for the play of beginning the world, with effortless ease, he passes time within himself, having attained a state free from ego.
यामिनीपङ्ककलिलां दिनकोकनदावलीम् । क्रियाभ्रमरिकां स्वात्मसरस्स्व् आरोपयन् स्थितः
He remains, projecting the night’s muddy darkness and the day’s lotus array, the bee of action, upon the lake of his own self.
गृहीत्वा भीषणः कृष्णां रजनीं जीर्णमार्जनीम् । आलोककनकक्षोदम् आहरत्य् अभितो ऽवनिम्
Seizing the dreadful black night, the worn-out sweeper, he brings forth the golden dust of light all around the earth.
सञ्चारयन् क्रियाङ्गुल्या कोणकेष्व् अर्कदीपिकाम् । जगत्सद्मनि कारुण्यात् क्व किम् अस्तीति वीक्षते
With the finger of action, he moves the lamp of the sun into the corners; out of compassion, he observes what and where things are in the house of the world.
प्रेक्ष्याहानि निमेषेण सूर्याक्ष्णा पाकवन्त्य् अलम् । लोकपालफलान्य् अत्ति जगज्जीर्णवनाद् अयम्
Beholding the days ripen in a moment with the sun’s eye, he consumes the fruits of the world-guardians, like one who devours the produce of an ancient forest.
जगज्जीर्णकुटीकीर्णान् अर्पयत्य् उग्रकोटरे । क्रमेण गुणवल्लोकमणीन् मृत्युसमुद्गके
Death, like a fierce chest, gradually deposits the jewels of worlds—worn-out huts of the universe—into its dreadful cavity.
गुणैर् आपूर्यते यैव लोकरत्नावली भृशम् । भूषार्थम् इव ताम् अङ्गे कृत्वा भूयो निकृन्तति
The string of world-gems, thoroughly filled with qualities, he adorns upon himself as if for decoration, and then again cuts it off.
दिनहंसानुसृतया निशेन्दीवरमालया । ताराकेसरयाजस्रं चपलो वलयत्य् अलम्
With the garland of night-lotuses following the swan of day, the fickle one ever encircles the sky with the rays of stars as filaments.
शैलोर्णद्युधराशृङ्गजगदूर्णायुसौनिकः । प्रत्यहं पिबति प्रोक्ष्य तारारक्तकणान् अपि
The wine-seller of life, who stirs the mountain, river, cloud, and world, daily drinks up, after sprinkling, even the red drops of stars.
तारुण्यनलिनीसोम आयुर्मातङ्गकेसरी । न तद् अस्ति न यस्यायं तुच्छातुच्छस्य तस्करः
There is nothing—no youth, no lotus, no moon, no lion’s mane of life—that this thief of the trivial and the great does not seize.
कल्पकेलिविलासेन पिष्टपातितजन्तुना । न्यग्भावोद्भवहासेन रमते स्वात्मनात्मनि
With the sport of the world-cycle, crushing and casting down creatures, he delights in his own self, with the smile of arising and subsiding.
कर्ता भोक्ताथ संहर्ता स्मर्ता सर्वपदं गतः । सर्वम् एव करोतीदं न करोति च किञ्चन
He is the doer, the enjoyer, the destroyer, the rememberer, who has reached every state; he does all this, yet does nothing at all.
सकलम् अप्य् अकलाकलितान्तरं सुभगदुर्भगरूपधरं वपुः । प्रकटयन् सहसैव च गोपयन् विलसतीह हि कालबलं नृषु
The power of time, shining among people, at once reveals and conceals the entire form—bearing both auspicious and inauspicious shapes, and marked by all divisions of time.