बद्धम् अस्मीति कलयद् विद्यातत्त्वं जहच् छनैः । अविद्यां जनयत्य् अन्तर् जगज्जङ्गलराक्षसीम्
Thinking, 'I am bound,' it gradually abandons the essence of true knowledge, and within gives rise to ignorance, the demon that haunts the jungle of the world.
स्वसङ्कल्पिततन्मात्रजालाभ्यन्तरवर्ति च । परां विवशताम् एति शृङ्खलाबद्धसिंहवत्
Dwelling within the web of subtle elements it has itself imagined, it falls into utter helplessness, like a lion chained.
विचित्रकार्यकर्तृत्वम् आहरद् वासनावशात् । स्वेच्छामात्रानुरचिता दशाश् चानुपतन् नवाः
Compelled by latent tendencies, it assumes various roles as the doer of diverse actions, and new states arise, shaped solely by its own will.
क्वचिन् मनः क्वचिद् बुद्धिः क्वचिज् ज्ञानं क्वचित् क्रिया । क्वचिद् एतद् अहङ्कारः क्वचित् पुर्यष्टकं स्मृतम्
At times it is called mind, at times intellect, at times knowledge, at times action; sometimes it is known as ego, and sometimes as the subtle body.
क्वचित् प्रकृतिर् इत्य् उक्तं क्वचिन् मायेति कल्पितम् । क्वचिन् मन इति प्रोक्तं क्वचित् कर्मेति संस्थितम्
Sometimes it is described as nature, sometimes imagined as illusion; sometimes it is called mind, and sometimes it is established as action.
क्वचिद् बन्ध इति ख्यातं क्वचिच् चित्तम् इति स्फुटम् । प्रोक्तं क्वचिद् अविद्येति क्वचिद् इच्छेति सङ्गतम्
Sometimes it is known as bondage, sometimes clearly as mind; sometimes it is called ignorance, and sometimes it is associated with desire.
तद् एतद् आबद्धम् इह चित्तं राघव दुःखितम् । तृष्णाशोकसमाविष्टं रोगायतनम् आतुरम्
This, O Raghava, is the mind bound here, afflicted with sorrow, seized by craving and grief, the abode of disease, and ever suffering.
जरामरणमोहार्तं भवभावनया हतम् । ईहितानीहितैर् ग्रस्तम् अविद्यारागरञ्जितम्
Afflicted by the delusion of old age and death, struck down by the imagination of worldly existence, seized by actions done and undone, stained by the color of the cave of ignorance.
इच्छासङ्कुचिताकारं कर्मवृक्षनवाङ्कुरम् । सुविस्मृतोत्पत्तिपदं कल्पितानर्थकल्पनम्
Its form contracted by desire, the fresh sprout of the tree of action, its origin utterly forgotten, fabricating imagined misfortunes.
कोशकारवद् आबद्धं कोशकारपदं गतम् । तन्मात्रवृन्दावयवम् अनन्तनरकातपम्
Bound like a cocoon-maker, having reached the state of the cocoon-maker, composed of the group of subtle elements, scorched by the heat of countless hells.
अदृश्यम् अपि शैलेन्द्रसमभारभरावहम् । जरामरणशाखाढ्यं संसारविषदुर्द्रुमम्
Though unseen, it bears a weight equal to a great mountain, adorned with the branches of old age and death, the poisonous, dreadful tree of worldly existence.
इमं संसारम् अखिलम् आशापाशविधायकम् । दधद् अन्तः फलैर् हीनं वटधाना वटं यथा
This entire worldly existence, binding with the cords of hope, bearing within it fruitlessness, is like a banyan seed containing a barren banyan tree.
चिन्तानलशिखादग्धं कोपाजगरचर्वितम् । कामाब्धिकल्लोलहतं विस्मृतात्मपितामहम्
Burnt by the flames of anxious thought, chewed by the serpent of anger, struck by the waves of the ocean of desire, having forgotten its own origin and source.
मृगं यूथाद् इव भ्रष्टं शोकोपहतचेतनम् । पतङ्गकम् इवोज्ज्वाले दग्धं विषयपावके
Like a deer separated from its herd, its mind afflicted by sorrow; like a moth burnt in a blazing fire, scorched in the fire of sense-objects.
छिन्नमूलम् इवाम्भोजं परमां म्लानिम् आगतम् । छिन्नाशम् आत्मनस् स्थानाद् विदेशासङ्गदुस्स्थितम्
Like a lotus with its root cut, fallen into utter withering; hope severed, displaced from its own place, enduring hardship in a foreign land.
विषयाहिषु मध्यस्थं मित्ररूपेषु शत्रुषु । दशाखदास्व् अनन्तासु लुठितं सङ्कटास्व् अति
In the midst of sensory pleasures, among those appearing as friends or foes, tossed about in countless states, and greatly troubled in difficult situations.
दुःखे निपतितं घोरे विहगं वागुरे यथा । आबद्धास्थं जगज्जाले शून्ये गन्धर्वपत्तने
Fallen into intense suffering, like a bird caught in a snare; bound within the net of the world, in the emptiness of the city of the Gandharvas.
उह्यमानम् अनर्थाब्धौ मनो विषयविद्रुतम् । उद्धरामरसङ्काश मातङ्गम् इव कर्दमात्
The mind, driven by sense objects, is carried away in the ocean of misfortune; lift it up, O Rama, like an elephant from the mud, with the strength of immortality.
बलीवर्दवद् आमग्नं मनो मननपल्वले । आलूनशीर्णावयवं बलाद् राम समुद्धर
The mind, sunk like an ox in the marsh of thought, its limbs wounded and torn—raise it forcefully, O Rama.
शुभाशुभप्रसरपराहताकृतौ ज्वलज्जरामरणविषादमूर्छिते । दयेह न स्वमनसि यस्य जायते नराकृतिस् स जगति राम राक्षसः
One whose mind does not give rise to compassion, even when afflicted by the flow of good and evil, scorched by the fire of old age, death, and sorrow—such a person, O Rama, is a demon in the world.
एवं जीवाश् चितो भावाद् भवभावनया हताः । ब्रह्मणो ऽकलिताकाराल् लक्षशो ऽपि च कोटिशः
Thus, living beings, destroyed by the thought of worldly existence arising from the mind, are countless and innumerable, lacking the true form of Brahman.
सङ्ख्यातीताः पुरा जाता जायन्ते ऽद्यापि चाभितः । उत्पतिष्यन्ति चैवान्ये कणौघा इव निर्झरात्
They have been born in the past beyond counting, are being born even now everywhere, and others will arise, like streams of particles from a waterfall.
स्ववासनावशावेशाद् आशाविवशतां गताः । दशास्व् अतिविचित्रासु स्वयं निगडिताशयाः
Overcome by the force of their own tendencies, they become subject to desires, bound by their own intentions in exceedingly varied conditions.
अनारतं प्रतिदिशं प्रतिदेशं जले स्थले । जायन्ते च म्रियन्ते च बुद्बुदा इव वारिणि
Unceasingly, in every direction and every region, on water and on land, beings are born and die, like bubbles in water.
केचित् प्रथमजन्मानः केचिज् जन्मवशातिगाः । केचिच् चासङ्ख्यजन्मानः केचिज् जन्मशतान्तराः
Some are in their first birth, some have passed beyond the compulsion of birth, some have countless births, and some are separated by hundreds of births.
भविष्यज्जातयः केचित् केचिद् भूतमहाभवाः । वर्तमानभवाः केचित् केचिच् चाभवतां गताः
Some are yet to be born, some are great beings of the past, some exist in the present, and some have already ceased to be.
केचित् कल्पसहस्राणि जायमानाः पुनः पुनः । एकाम् एवाश्रिता योनिं केचिद् योन्यन्तरं श्रिताः
Some are born again and again for thousands of aeons, always entering the same womb, while others take refuge in different wombs.
केचिन् महादुःखहताः केचिद् अल्पवयस्स्थिताः । केचिद् अत्यन्तम् उदिताः केचिद् अर्का इवोदिताः
Some are struck by great suffering, some remain in early youth, some rise to the utmost heights, and some shine forth like the sun.
केचित् किन्नरगन्धर्वविद्याधरमहोरगाः । केचिद् अर्केन्द्रवरुणत्र्यक्षाधोऽक्षजपद्मजाः
Some are kinnaras, gandharvas, vidyādharas, or great serpents; some are born from the sun, Indra, Varuṇa, the three-eyed one, the lord of the lower realms, or from Brahmā.
केचित् कुम्भाण्डवेतालयक्षरक्षःपिशाचकाः । केचिद् ब्राह्मणभूपालवैश्यशूद्रगणास् स्मृताः
Some are kumbhāṇḍas, ghosts, yakṣas, rākṣasas, or piśācas; some are known as brāhmaṇas, kings, merchants, or śūdras.