को ऽसौ स्वोत्थ इति ख्यातो भूपस् तातोत्तमाकृतिः । कथितं च किम् एतन् मे त्वयैतद् ब्रूहि तत्त्वतः
Who is this, renowned as self-arisen, O father, of excellent form among kings? And what is this that has been spoken to me? Please tell me this truthfully.
क्व भविष्यति निर्माणं वर्तमाने क्व गम्यताम् । उभयार्थविरुद्धत्वान् मोहार्थाय वचस् तव
Where will creation occur? Where is its destination in the present? Your words, being contradictory in both respects, are spoken for the sake of confusion.
शृणु पुत्र यथाभूतम् एतत् ते कथयाम्य् अहम् । येन संसारचक्रस्य तत्त्वम् अस्यावबुध्यसे
Listen, my son, I will tell you as it truly is, so that you may understand the essence of the cycle of worldly existence.
असदभ्युत्थितारम्भम् अवस्तुमयम् आततम् । संसारसंस्थानम् इदम् एवम् आकथितं मया
This structure of worldly existence, arising from the unreal and spread out as a non-substantial thing, has thus been described by me.
परमान् नभसो जातस् सङ्कल्पस् स्वोत्थ उच्यते । जायते स्वयम् एवासौ स्वयम् एव विलीयते
The supreme arises from space; intention is called self-arisen. It is born by itself and dissolves by itself.
तत्स्वरूपम् इदं सर्वं जगद् आभोगि विद्यते । जायते तेन जातेन तस्मिन् नष्टे विनश्यति
All this world appears as its very own form; it is born when that is born, and when that ceases, it perishes.
ब्रह्मविष्ण्विन्द्ररुद्रादींस् तस्यैवावयवान् विदुः । विटपान् इव वृक्षस्य शृङ्गाणीव महीभृतः
Brahma, Vishnu, Indra, Rudra, and the others are known as its limbs, just as branches are to a tree, or peaks to a mountain.
शून्ये व्योमनि तेनेदं निर्मितं त्रिजगत्पुरम् । प्रतिभासानुसन्धानमात्रेणैत्य विरिञ्चताम्
In the empty sky, this threefold world-city is fashioned by it, attaining the state of the Creator merely through the sequence of appearances.
यत्रेमे विततालोका लोककोशाश् चतुर्दश । वनोपवनपाल्यश् च यत्रोद्यानपरम्पराः
Here are spread out these worlds and the fourteen cosmic spheres, and here are forests, groves, and a succession of gardens.
क्रीडाशिखरिणो यत्र सह्यमन्दरमेरवः । शीतोष्णदीप्ती चन्द्रार्कौ दीपौ यत्रानिलाक्षतौ
Here, the playful peaks—Sahya, Mandara, Meru—are found; here, the cool and hot radiances, the moon and sun, and the two lamps, wind and fire.
सूर्यांशुकचदालोलतरङ्गोत्तुङ्गमौक्तिकाः । वहन्त्यस् सरितो यत्र सन्मुक्तावलयश् चलाः
Here, rivers carry pearls rising high like the moving crests of waves stirred by the sun’s rays, and there are shifting garlands of genuine pearls.
इक्षुक्षीरादिसलिला मणिरत्नबिसाङ्कुराः । और्वानलाम्बुजा यत्र वाप्यस् सप्त महार्णवाः
Here are pools with waters of sugarcane juice, milk, and more; with gems, jewels, lotus sprouts, submarine fires, lotuses, and the seven great oceans.
अध उर्व्यां तथोर्ध्वे खे पुण्यापुण्यधनश्रियः । नरामरकिराटानां यत्रातिक्रयविक्रयौ
Below on earth and above in the sky are virtue, vice, wealth, and splendor; here are the buying and selling among humans, gods, and yakshas.
तस्मिन्न् एव जगत्य् अस्मिन् पुरे सङ्कल्पभूभुजा । क्रीडार्थम् आत्मनश् चित्रा देहाववरकाः कृताः
In this very world, in this city, the sovereign of imagination has created wondrous bodily coverings for the sake of his own play.
केचिद् गीर्वाणनामान ऊर्ध्व एव नियोजिताः । नरोरगादयः केचिद् अध एव निवेशिताः
Some, bearing the name of celestials, are stationed above; others, such as humans and serpents, are placed below.
वातयन्त्रप्रवाहेण चलन्तो मांसमृण्मयाः । सितास्थिदारवश् चित्रास् त्वग्लेपमसृणामलाः
Moved by the mechanism of wind, these bodies of flesh and clay move about; some are adorned with white bones and wood, variously smeared with skin, smooth or unclean.
केचिच् चिरेण नश्यन्ति केचिच् छीघ्रविनाशिनः । कचकृष्णोलपोल्लासरचिताच्छादनश्रियः
Some perish after a long time, some are quickly destroyed; their coverings are fashioned with shining, dark, or pale hues.
कर्णाक्षिनासाप्रमुखैर् द्वारैर् नवभिर् अन्विताः । अनारतवहत्प्राणपवनेनोष्णशीतलाः
They are endowed with nine doors, beginning with ears, eyes, and nose, and are made hot or cold by the constant movement of the vital wind.
कर्णनासास्यताल्वादिवातायनगणान्विताः । भुजाद्यङ्गप्रतोलीकाः पञ्चेन्द्रियकुदीपकाः
Fitted with groups of air-windows such as ears, nose, mouth, and palate, with limbs like arms and others as passageways, and with five lamps of the senses.
मायया रचितास् तेषु सङ्कल्पेन महामते । अहङ्कारमहायक्षाः परमालोकभीरवः
Within these, by the power of illusion and imagination, O wise one, the great goblins of ego are fashioned, fearsome even to the supreme light.
देहाववरकेष्व् अन्तर् महाहङ्कारयक्षकैः । स हि सङ्क्रीडते ऽत्यर्थम् असद् एवासदुत्थितैः
Inside these bodily coverings, with those great goblins of ego, he plays excessively with what is unreal, arising from the unreal.
यथा कुसूले मार्जारो भस्त्रायां भुजगो यथा । मुक्ताफलं यथा वेणाव् अहङ्कारस् तनौ तथा
Just as a cat in a granary, a snake in a bellows, or a pearl in a bamboo—so is the sense of 'I' in the body.
क्षणम् अभ्युदयं याति क्षणं शाम्यति दीपवत् । देहगेहेषु सङ्कल्पस् तरङ्गस् सागरेष्व् इव
Like a lamp that flares up for a moment and then subsides, so do thoughts arise and fade within the house of the body, like waves in the ocean.
भविष्यन्नवनिर्माणम् अप्य् आप्नोति तदा पुरम् । यदा सङ्कल्पितं वस्तु पुर एव प्रपश्यति
Even the city that is yet to be built appears at that time, when one perceives the imagined object as if it were already present in the city.
असङ्कल्पनमात्रेण स्वेनैवाशु विनश्यति । श्रेयसे परमायास्य नाशस् स्वो न तु सम्भवः
By merely ceasing to imagine, it quickly disappears by itself; for one's highest good, its destruction is proper, not its continuation.
स्वयं सङ्कल्पनामात्राज् जायते बालयक्षवत् । अनन्तायात्मदुःखाय नानन्दाय कदाचन
It arises solely from one's own imagination, like a child's demon, and brings endless suffering to oneself, never happiness.
इदं स्फारं जगद्दुःखं प्रतनोत्य् आत्मसत्तया । असत्तया नाशयति क्षणम् आन्ध्यं यथा तमः
This vast world of sorrow is projected by the reality of the self; by unreality, it is destroyed in an instant, like darkness by blindness.
स्वयैव दुःखदायिन्या चेष्टया परिरोदिति । काष्ठावष्टब्धवृषणः कीलोत्पाटी कपिर् यथा
By its own painful activity, it laments, like a monkey whose testicles are caught on a peg, struggling to break free.
सङ्कल्पितानन्दलवस् तिष्ठत्य् उद्धुरकन्धरम् । अकस्मात् खच्युतमधुबिन्दुभुक् करभो यथा
A drop of imagined happiness remains, its neck held high, like an elephant savoring a sudden drop of honey fallen from the sky.
स्वयं विरतिम् आयाति क्षणम् एति रतिं क्षणम् । क्षणं विकारम् आयाति सङ्कल्पो ऽभव्यबालवत्
The mind itself turns to dispassion for a moment, then to attachment for a moment; for a moment it undergoes change—like a foolish child, imagination arises and subsides.