जनतेयं विपर्यासम् अजस्रम् अनुगच्छति । जडस्पन्दपरामर्शात् तरङ्गानाम् इवावली
This world constantly follows confusion, due to the dull agitation and grasping, like a series of waves.
बाल्यम् अद्य दिनैर् एव यौवनश्रीस् ततो जरा । देहे ऽपि नैकरूपत्वं कास्था बाह्येषु वस्तुषु
Childhood lasts only a few days, then comes the glory of youth, followed by old age; even the body does not remain the same, just as wood among external objects.
क्षणम् आनन्दिताम् एति क्षणम् एति विषादिताम् । क्षणं सौम्यत्वम् आयाति सर्वस्मिन् नटवन् मनः
For a moment it becomes joyful, for a moment it becomes sorrowful, for a moment it attains gentleness; the mind acts like an actor in everything.
इतश् चान्यद् इतश् चान्यद् इतश् चान्यद् अयं विधिः । रचयन् वस्तु नायाति खेदं लीलास्व् इवार्भकः
From here to elsewhere, from here to elsewhere, from here to elsewhere—this fate creates things without fatigue, like a child at play.
चिनोत्य् उन्मादयत्य् अत्ति निहन्त्य् आहन्ति चात्मसात् । जगज्जातम् इदं धाता पातोत्पातशतैर् इह
It gathers, excites, consumes, destroys, strikes, and absorbs; the creator of this world acts here through hundreds of rises and falls.
क्षणेनान्यद् दिनेनान्यत् प्रातर् अन्यद् इतस् ततः । रचयन् वञ्चनादक्षो विधिर् दृष्टो न केनचित्
In a moment, something else; in a day, something else; in the morning, something else, and so on; fate, skilled in deception, is seen by none.
यद् अद्य तत् तु न प्रातर् यत् प्रातस् तत् तु नाद्य च । यद् अन्यदा तु तन् नाद्य सर्वम् आवर्ततेतराम्
What is today is not tomorrow; what is tomorrow is not today; what is at another time is not today; everything turns again and again.
सन्ततानीह दुःखानि सुखानि विरलानि च । सततं रात्र्यहानीव विवर्तन्ते नरं प्रति
Here, sorrows are continuous, pleasures are rare; like day and night, they constantly revolve for a person.
आविर्भावतिरोभावभागिनो भवभाविनः । जनस्य स्थिरतां यान्ति नापदो न च सम्पदः
For those who are subject to birth and death, who come and go, neither misfortunes nor fortunes remain constant in a person's life.
पदात् पदम् अयं पापस् सर्वम् आपदि पातयन् । हेलाविवलिताशेषः खलकाललवस् स्थितः
From one step to the next, this sin brings all into calamity; it stands as the remnant of wickedness, shaken off carelessly, like a trace of dark time.
समविषमदशाविपाकभिन्नास् त्रिभुवनभूतपरम्पराफलौघाः । समयपवनपातिताः पतन्ति प्रतिदिनम् आततसंसृतिद्रुमेभ्यः
The streams of results arising from the succession of beings in the three worlds, differing in their ripening of pleasure and pain, are struck down each day by the winds of time from the trees of ever-spreading transmigration.
इति मेधोपदावाग्निदग्धे महति चेतसि । प्रस्फुरन्ति न भोगाशा मृगतृष्णास् सरस्स्व् इव
Thus, when the great mind is scorched by the fire of discernment, desires for enjoyment do not arise, just as mirages do not appear in real lakes.
प्रत्यहं चातिकटुताम् एति संसारसंसृतिः । कालपाकवशोल्लासिरसा निम्बलता यथा
Day by day, the cycle of worldly existence becomes exceedingly bitter, like the taste of a neem tree intensified by the ripening of time.
वृद्धिम् आयाति दौर्जन्यं सौजन्यं याति तानवम् । करञ्जकर्कशे राजन् प्रत्यहं जनचेतसि
O King, in the hearts of people, harshness grows and goodness diminishes each day, as if in a grove of rough karañja trees.
भज्यते भुवि मर्यादा झगित्य् एव दिशं प्रति । शुष्केव माषशिमिका टाङ्कारकठिनारवम्
Boundaries on earth are suddenly shattered in every direction, like dry bean pods splitting open with a harsh, cracking sound.
राज्येभ्यो भोगपूगेभ्यश् चिन्तावन्तो महीश्वराः । निरस्तचिन्ताकलिका वरम् एकान्तशीलता
Kings, though possessing kingdoms and heaps of enjoyments, are full of cares; it is better to have a solitary disposition, free from the buds of anxiety.
नानन्दाय ममोद्यानं न सुखाय मम श्रियः । न हर्षाय ममार्थाशा शाम्यामि मनसा सह
My garden does not bring me joy, my wealth does not bring me happiness; my desires for gain do not delight me—I am at rest with my mind.
अनित्यश् चासुखो लोकस् तृष्णा तात दुरुद्वहा । चापलोपहतं चेतः कथं यास्यामि निर्वृतिम्
The world is impermanent and devoid of happiness, and thirst, dear one, is hard to bear; with a mind afflicted by restlessness, how can I find peace?
नाभिनन्दामि मरणं नाभिनन्दामि जीवितम् । यथा तिष्ठामि तिष्ठामि तथैव विगतज्वरम्
I do not welcome death, nor do I welcome life; as I remain, so I remain—free from feverish longing.
किं मे राज्येन किं भोगैः किम् अर्थेन किम् ईहितैः । अहङ्कारवशाद् एतत् स एव गलितो मम
What is the use of a kingdom to me, or enjoyments, or wealth, or ambitions? All this was under the sway of ego, and now that has fallen away for me.
जन्मावलिवरत्रायाम् इन्द्रियग्रन्थयो दृढाः । ये लग्नास् तद्विमोक्षार्थं ये यतन्ते त उत्तमाः
In the chain of repeated births, the bonds of the senses are strong; those who strive to free themselves from these attachments are truly noble.
दलितं मानिनीलोकैर् मनो मकरकेतुना । कोमलं खुरनिष्पेषैः कमलं करिणा यथा
My mind has been crushed by the proud and fickle people of the world, just as a tender lotus is bruised by the trampling of an elephant’s hoof.
अद्य चेत् स्वस्थया बुद्ध्या मुनीन्द्र न चिकित्स्यते । भूयश् चित्तचिकित्सायां कः किलावसरः कुतः
O great sage, if today the mind is not healed with sound understanding, then when will there ever be an opportunity for the treatment of the mind again?
विषं विषयवैषम्यं न विषं विषम् उच्यते । जन्मान्तरघ्ना विषया एकदेहहरं विषम्
Poison is not called poison; the discord of sense-objects is poison. Sense-objects destroy across lifetimes, while ordinary poison destroys only one body.
न सुखानि न दुःखानि न मित्राणि न बन्धवः । न जीवितं न मरणं बन्धाय ज्ञस्य चेतसः
Neither pleasures nor pains, neither friends nor relatives, neither life nor death bind the mind of the wise.
तद् भवामि यथा ब्रह्मन् पूर्वापरविदां वर । वीतशोकभयायासो ज्ञस् तथोपदिशाशु मे
O best among those who know past and future, O Brahman, instruct me swiftly so that I may become like that sage—free from sorrow, fear, and toil.
वासनाजालवलिता दुःखकण्टकसङ्कटा । निपातोत्पातबहला भीमरूपाज्ञताटवी
The forest of ignorance is tangled with the net of tendencies, crowded with the thorns of suffering, dense with falls and calamities, and terrifying in form.
क्रकचोग्रविनिष्पेषं सोढुं शक्तो ऽस्म्य् अहं मुने । संसारव्यवहारोत्थं नाशाविषमवैशसम्
O sage, I am able to endure the fierce torment—like being crushed by a sharp saw—of the poison and distress arising from worldly dealings.
इदं नास्तीदम् अस्तीति व्यवहारिजनभ्रमः । धुनोतीदं चलं चेतो रजोराशिम् इवानिलः
This delusion of people, saying 'this is not, this is,' shakes this fickle mind as the wind scatters a heap of dust.
तृष्णातन्तुलवप्रोतजीवसञ्चयमौक्तिकम् । चिदच्छाङ्गतया नित्यं प्रकटं चित्तनायकम्
The collection of lives, strung together by the threads of craving, is a pearl whose luster is the reflection of consciousness, ever manifest as the leader of the mind.