वैराग्यशतकम्(भर्तृहरिप्रणीतम्, आङ्ग्लटीकोपेतम्)
| वैराग्यशतकम्, (भर्तृहरिप्रणीतम्, आङ्ग्लटीकोपेतम्) भर्तृहरिः १९७६ |
THE
VAIRAGYA-SATAKAM
OR
THE HUNDRED VERSES ON
RENUNCIATION
BHARTRHARI
SWAMI MADHAVANANDA
ADVAITA ASHRAMA
5 DEHI ENTALLY ROAD
CALCUTTA 700 014
Puhlished by
SWAMI, VANDANANANDA
PRESIDENT, ADVA1TA ASHRAMA
MAYAVATJ, PITHORAGARH. HIMALAYAS
All Rights Reserved
Seventh Edition. August 1976
3M3C
PRINTED IN INDIA BY ALOKE DE
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PREFACE
THe Vairagya-Satakam is one of the three series of hundred verses which have come down to us under the title of Subhashita-trisati, (lit. 'The happily worded three centuries') and associated with the name of the poet Bhartrhari. In some manuscripts, these verses exceed the number implied in the above name, but we have followed the authority of an edition published by the Nirnaya-sagar Press of Bombay, which maintains the exact original number.
Tradition attributes the authorship of these verses to Bhartrhari. the elder brother of the most renowned King Vikramaditya of Ujjain. Controversy has not yet settled the point as to which Vikramaditya was the brother of the poet and when exactly he reigned at Ujjain. The fact, it seems, that Bhartrhari belonged to a royal family and renounced the world later on in life to become a Yogi, forms the most reliable nucleus round which growing, and sometimes conflicting, traditions have continued to gather. A cave is still pointed out near Ujjain, bearing his name where Bhartrhari is said to have practised austerities. A book called the Nathalilamrta recording from hearsay stories about the celebrities life in a loose,legendary style. But it is easy to make out that, when all clue to authenticity about the real facts of Bhartrhari's life became lost to tradition, the memory of a career so stimulating to
imagination was not allowed to go down to hopelessly( iv )
denuded of facts, and the process of adding limbs and features to the stump of an older tradition naturally went on. Add to this process such floating legendary materials as the story about a gift made to one's be- loved proving her infidelity by changing hands till it reached the donor again, or the miracles with which the tben famous sect of Yogis used to be credited and so on, and you hope to get a fairly good biography of Bhartr- hari such as gradually gained currency in tradition.
The verses, composed -may be, with stray excep- tions-by Bhartrhari himseJf, cannot be made to give any clue to his individual life, for his poetry seeks to create effect through style and sentiment too conven- tional to yield themselves to such use. But still his life- long lessons from experience and observation must have been reflected in their peculiar trend and emphasis in the movements of sentiment through the verses; and it may be possible for a reader of penetrative intellect to trace out from such nice shades the bare outline of a deeper ljfe of hard-fought struggles and late-won victory. A nature, straightforward, possessed of noble faith in itself, unambitious of high distinction among men, but deeply susceptible to the beauties and charms of sentiment, seems to have been involved once in a tangle of sensual enjoyments too heavy to leave it the sustained strength for wielding lhe sceptre, till from a life of such weak- ness and consequent dependence. If gradually rose through reactions, deep and incisive, to a wonderfully enriched sense of worldly vanity and an effective strength of renunciation. The verses composed by
Bhartrhari tend to present to view the background of(v)
such a nature still holding in control lower susceptibili- ties, once indulged, by the dawning possibilities of a life of Yoga. And though it is difficult to ascertain how far this life of Yoga had advanced behind the role of the poet representing different stages of wisdom, it is fairly presumptive that the poet's voice gradually merged in the silence of the highest spiritual realizations.
The hundred verses of the Vairagya-Satakam are di- vided into ten groups under the following ten headings : तृष्णाढूषणम् condemntion of desire ; विषयपरित्यागविडम्बना, futile efforts to give up sense-objects : याञ्चादैन्यढूषणम्, condemnation of the poverty of a supplicant attitude ; भोगस्थैर्यवर्णनम्, delineation of the evanescene of enjoy- ments ; कालमहिमानुवर्णनम् description of the working of Time, or the principle of change ; यतिनृपतिसंवादवर्णनम्, a comparision as to how a monk stands to a king ; मन:संबोधननियमनम्, control of mind by stimulating wisdom in it ; नित्यानित्यवस्तुविचारः, discrimination of the immutable reality from the mutable ; शिवार्चनम्, worship of Siva ; अवधूतचर्या, the way of life for ar Avadhuta, or a self- realized ascetic characterized by the highest spiritual freedom.
With these few remarks of a prefatory nature, we send for this English translation of an important poetical production of Mediaeval India into the world of modern readers. The translation has been made rather too closely literal, specially to suit the con- venience of these readers who want to follow the original Sanskrit with its help.
PUBLISHER
The Vairagya-Satakam
वैराग्यशतकम्
चूडोत्तंसितचन्द्रचारुकलिकाचञ्चच्छिखाभास्वरो
लीलादग्धविलोलकामशलभः श्रेयोदशाग्रे स्फुरन् ।
अन्तःस्फूर्जदपारमोहतिमिरप्राग्भारमुच्चोटयन्-
श्चेतःसद्मनि योगिनां विजयते ज्ञानप्रदीपो हरः ॥१॥
1. All glory to Siva, the Light of Knowledge, residing in the temple of the Yogis' heart, who smites away (like the rising sum) the massive front of the endless night of ignorance overcasting human minds, in whose wake follow all auspiciousness and prosperity, who burnt up gay Lust as a moth, as if in sport, and who appears beaming with the lambent rays of the crescent adorning His forehead- rays that look pleasing like soft half-blooming buds !
[चूहोत्तंसित made an ornament for the head चारुकलिकाञ्चच्छिखा lambent beams like beautiful half-blooming buds लीलादग्ध burnt up at case or in sport श्रेयोदशाग्रे in front of all circumstances of prosperity स्फुरन् appearing अन्तःस्फूर्जत् spreading forth in the heart प्राग्भारम् heavy mass at the front.
As is customary with Sanskrit poets this verse is dedicatory (to Siva in this instance), as forming an auspicious introduction.]
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भ्रान्तं देशमनेकदुर्गविषमं प्राप्तं न किञ्चित् फलं |
2. Many are the inaccessible and perilous places I have travelled and yet obtained no riches; sacrificing proper dignity of birth and social position, in vain have I served myself, devoid of self-respect, at the house of others in the expectation of gain; and yet, oh ! Desire, thou prompter of evil deeds, thou art waxing lustier and art not still satisfied.
[अनेकदुर्गविषमं rendered difficult of access by various obstacles फलं result (but here), wealth आशङ्कया hankering (after gain) पापकर्मपिशुने indicative of evil deeds.]
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उत्खातं निधिशङ्कया क्षितितलं ध्माता गिरेर्धातवो |
3. The earth have I digged into in quest of precious minerals, and metals from rocks have I smelted; the ocean have I Crossed, and the favour
of kings have I diligently sought ; nights have I spent on burning grounds with my mind occupied with mantras and worship;'and not even a broken cowrie have I obtained; be satisfied, therefore, oh Desire !
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खलालापाः सोढा: कथमपि तदाराधनपरै- |
4. In our servile attendance on the (wealthy) wicked, their shabby manners and talk we have somehow put up with ; suppressing tears that welled up from our hearts , we have smiled out of vacant minds; obeisance we have made to dullards stultified by too much wealth ; in what more fooleries wouldst thou have me dance, oh Desire, thou of ungratified yearning !
[वित्तस्तम्भप्रतिहतधियाम् those rendered dull in intellect by inactivity due to too much wealth मोघाशे with hopes thwarted. Another reading is चित्तस्तम्भ : as a separate word. The meaning then would be : "We have restrained our feelings and made obeisance", etc.]
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अमोषां प्राणानां तुलितबिसिनीपत्रपयसां |
This forms a part of the mysterious rites to be gone through by those who invoke supernatural agencies for obtaining riches.
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यदाढ्यानामग्रे द्रविणमदनिःसंज्ञमनसां |
5. What have we not endeavoured to do, with our depraved conscience, for the sake of our prāņas (five vital forces) which are unreliable and compared to water on the leaves of a lotus, since in the presence of the rich, with their minds stupefied by the pride of wealth, we have shamelessly committed the sin of recounting our own merits !
[According to the scriptures, self-glorification is tantamount even to the sin of suicide]
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क्षान्तं न क्षमया गृहोचितमुखं त्यक्तं न संतोषतः |
6. We have forgiven, but not out of forgiveness (but out of our incapacity to right our wrongs); we have renounced the comforts of home life, but not out of contentment after satisfaction (but as an exile from home in quest of riches); though we have suffered inclemencies of weather, cold and heat so difficult to bear, still it is not religious austerities that we have undergone ; with subdued vital forces, night and day have we brooded on money and not on the feet of Siva ; thus we have performed those very acts which the Munis (saintly recluses) do perform, but of their good effects we have deprived ourselves.
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भोगा न भुक्ता वयमेव भुक्ता- |
7. The worldly pleasures have not been enjoyed by us, but we ourselves have been devoured; no religious austerities have been gone through, but we ourselves have become scorched; time is not gone (being ever-present and infinite), but it is we who are gone (because of approaching death). Desire is not reduced in force, though we ourselves are reduced to senility.
[Here there is an ironical pun on the participles भुक्ताः and तप्ताः the former being used both in the sense of "enjoyed" and "eaten up", and the latter both in the sense of "(austerities) performed" and "heated". Similarly the participle जीर्णाः means both "reduced in force" and "stricken down with age". The effect, of course, cannot be preserved in translation.]
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वलीभिर्मुखमाक्रान्तं पलितेनाङ्कितं शिरः । |
8. The face has been attacked with wrinkles, the head has been painted white with grey hair, the limbs are all enfeebled ; but desire alone is rejuvenating.
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निवृत्ता भोगेच्छा पुरुषबहुमानोऽपि गलितः |
9. Though my compeers, dear to me as life, have all taken such a speedy flight to heaven (before being overtaken by old age), though the impulse for enjoyment is wearied out and the respect commanded from all persons lost, though my sight is obstructed by deep blindness (or cataract) and the body can raise itself but slowly on the staff, still alas for its silliness, this body startles at the thought of dissolution by death !
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आशा नाम नदी मनोरथजला तृष्णातरंगाकुला |
10. Hope is like a flowing river of which the ceaseless desires constitute the waters; it rages with the waves of keen longings, and the attachments for various objects are its animals of prey; scheming thoughts of greed are the aquatic birds that abound on it, and it destroys in its course the big trees of patience and fortitude ; it is rendered impassable by the whirlpools of ignorance, and of profound depth of bed as it is, its banks of anxious deliberation are precipitous indeed. Such a river the great Yogis of pure mind pass across to enjoy supreme felicity.
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न संसारोत्पन्नं चरितमनुपश्यामि कुशलं |
11. I do not find the virtuous distinction produced (by ceremonial observances) through life after life to be conducive to well-being, for the sum of such virtuous merits when weighed in mind inspires fear in me. Enjoyments earned by great accession of merit, multiply so greatly in the case of people attached to them, only to bring them misery and peril !
[विपाकः पुण्यानां etc.-The idea is to show the futility of good deeds performed in our earthly life with the object of enjoying happiness in the heaven or the higher Lokas, for the heavenly enjoyments are transitory as being the result produced by our virtuous merits; when the force of these merits is spent out, the enjoyments must cease and the soul will again be drawn back to the cycle of births and deaths, until by jñãna or spiritual illumination, it has obtained Mokșa or final release from the wheel of transmigration. व्यसनमिव दातुं – It indicates that the enjoyment of pleasures in heavens binds still more fetters on us by increasing out thirst and hence is the cause of an added volume of miseries. ]
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अवश्यं यातारश्चिरतरमुषित्वापि विषया |
12. The objects of enjoyment, even after staying with us for a long time, are sure to leave us sometime ; then what difference does their privation in this way make to men, that they do not of their own accord discard them ? If the enjoyments leave us on their own initiative, i.e. if they tear themselves from us, they produce great affliction of the mind ; but if men voluntarily renounce them, they conduce to the eternal bliss of self-possession.
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ब्रह्मज्ञानविवेकनिर्मलधियः कुर्वन्त्यहो दुष्करं |
13 . Ah ! it must be indeed a difficult feat which persons, with their minds purified by the discrimination arising from knowledge of Brahman, accomplish, in that, free from desire, they wholly discard that wealth which has been actually bringing them enjoyment; whereas we fail to renounce enjoyments which are reaped by us as mere longings and which we never did realize in the past, nor do we realize now nor can we count upon as lasting when obtained (in future).
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धन्यानां गिरिकन्दरेषु वसतां ज्योतिः परं ध्यायता- |
14. Blessed are those who live in mountain caves meditating on Brahman, the Supreme Light, while birds devoid of fear perch on their laps and drink the tear-drops of Bliss (that they shed in meditation) ; while our life is fast ebbing away in the excitement of revelry in palatial mansions or on the banks of refreshing pools or in pleasure-gardens, all created (and brooded over) merely by imagination.
[शत्रुना निःशङ्कमङ्कशेयाः-The birds have approached them fearlessly, because they have reached the state of quietism and harmlessness, realizing the oneness of all life.]
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भिक्षाशनं तदपि नीरसमेकवारं |
15. For food, (I have) what begging brings and that too tasteless and once a day ; for bed, the earth, and for attendant, the body itself; for dress, (I have) a worn out blanket made up of a hundred patches ! And still alas ! the desires do not leave me!
[ विषया:- (Objects of desires haunting the mind.]
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स्तनौ मांसग्रन्थी कनककलशावित्युपमितौ |
मांसग्रन्थी - Lumps of flesh (dual number). कनककलशावित्युपमितौ- ( become ) golden jugs in ( poets ) comparison. श्लेष्मागारम्— seat of phlegm, saliva, etc. शशाङ्केन तुलितम्-is compared to the moon. करिवरशिरस्पर्धि- claiming likeness with elephant's forehead. मुहुर्निन्द्यं रूपं etc- form deserving constant contempt has been magnified (in praise ) by certain poets.
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एको रागिषु राजते प्रियतमादेहार्धहारी हरो |
17. Among sensual persons, Siva is unique sharing half His body with His beloved ; and again, among the dispassionate, there is none superior to Him, unattached to the company of women; while the rest of mankind smitten and stupefied by the irresistible, serpent-like poisoned arrows of Cupid, and brought under the infatuation of Love, can neither enjoy their desires nor renounce them at will.
[प्रियतमदेहार्धाहरी—This refers to the symbolic representation of Śiva and Gaurĩ in a single divided form. "On one side grows the hair in long and black curls, And on the other, corded like rope ;
One side is white with ashes, like the snow-mountains, The other golden as the light of the dawn. For He, the Lord, took a form, And that was a divided form, Half-woman and half-man."
भोक्तुं न मोक्तुं क्षमः - Ordinary persons when they give themselves up to enjoyments, lose all control and become slaves to them ; so even when satiety comes, they cannot detach themselves from them, as the force of blind attachment has enslaved them. But Śiva, who has subdued His mind, is unaffected by them, as in His state of mental poise of Yoga, pleasure and pain are the same to Him.]
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अजानन्दाहात्म्यं पततु शलभस्तीव्रदहने |
18. Without knowing its burning power the insect jumps into the glowing fire ; the fish through ignorance eats the bait attached to the hook; whereas we, having full discernment, do not renounce the sensual desires, complicated as they are with manifold dangers; alas, how inscrutable is the power of delusion !
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तृषा शुष्यत्यास्ये पिबति सलिलं शीतमधुरं |
19. When the mouth is parched with thirst, man takes some cold refreshing (or sweetened) drink; when suffering from hunger he swallows boiled rice made delicious with meat and the like; when set on fire by lust, he fast embraces his wife; so happiness is but the remedying of these diseases (of hunger, thirst, and lust); and behold, how man(i.e. his sense) is upset in its quest !
[प्रतीकारं व्याधेः सुखमिति- The main point to be understood is this, namely, that worldly happiness is but the temporary remedy we constantly seek for all the diseases with which worldly life is beset. When this relative and fugitive nature of happiness becomes apparent to us, we naturally give up running after it, to seek permanent peace in renunciation.]
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तुङ्गं वेश्म सुताः सतामभिमताः संख्यातिगाः संपदः |
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मत्वा विश्वमनस्वरं निविशते संसारकारागृहे |
20. Possessed of tall mansions , of sons esteemed by the learned, of untold wealth, of a beloved wife of beneficence, and of youthful age, and thinking this world to be permanent, men deluded by ignorance run into this prison-house of worldliness; whereas blessed indeed is he who considering the transiency of the same world renounces it
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दीना दीनमुत्वः सदैव शिशुकैराकृष्टजीर्णाम्बरा |
21. If one had on occasion to see one's wife suffering without food and sore aggrieved at the constant sight of hungry crying children with piteous looks pulling at her Worn-out clothes, what self-respecting man would for the mere sake of his own petty stomach utter give me (i.e. become a supplicant for favour) in a voice faltering and sticking at the throat for fear of his prayer being refused ?
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अभिमतमहामानग्रन्थिप्रभेदपटीयसी |
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विपुलविलसल्लज्जाबल्ली वितानकुठारिका |
22. The pit of our stomach so hard to fill is the root indeed of no small undoing: it is ingenious in severing the vital knots, as it were, of our fond self-respect ; it is like the bright moonlight shining on the lotus (that species which blooms only in the sun) of highly estimable virtues; it is the hatchet that hews down the luxuriant creepers of our great modesty.
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पुण्ये ग्रामे वने वा महति सितपटच्छन्नपालि कपालि |
23. For the sake of filling the cavity of the stomach when hungry, a man of self-respect would wander from door to door with an earthen begging bowl (in hand) having its edge covered with white cloth, away in extensive woodlands or holy places, the outskirts of which are grey all over with the smoke of sacrificial fires tended by Brahmanas versed in ritualistic niceties, and thus preserve the pranas, rather than live (like) a beggar from day to day among those who are Socially one's equals.
[It should be remembered that living on alms for a man of true renunciation is held in high esteem in India. for no social merit can be higher than giving up the world for the sake of the national ideal of spirituality.
Woodlands-where rectuses live.
Covered, etc. --this seems to have been the custom, to prevent the food from being seen by the passers-by.]
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गङ्गातरंगणशीकरशीतलानि |
24. Ah ! is it that those Himalayan solitudes, cooled by the spray of minute bits of Gang’s waves and abounding in beautiful rocky flats such as are the haunts of the Vidyadharas, are all engulfed in destruction, that men in disgrace hang on others for their maintenance ?
[कण and शीकर have much the same sense, For कण some read हिम meaning cold.
The Vidyadharas are unearthly beings with super human skill in arts, specially music.]
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किं कन्दाः कन्दरेभ्यः प्रलयमुपगता निर्भरा वा गिरिभ्यः |
25 . Or is it that herbs and roots have all disappeared from caves, and streams have gone away from hillsides, ot that branches of trees bearing luscious fruits and yielding barks are all destroyed, that the faces of wretches, perfectly devoid of good breeding, are found to have their eyebrows dancing like creepers in the wind of an arrogance which their scanty earning eked out with hardship engenders in them ?
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पुण्यैर्भूलफलैस्तथा प्रणयिनीं वृत्ति कुरुष्वाधुना |
26. Therefore. now, accepting fruits and roots, ordained as sacred, for the most enjoyable means of maintenance, and (so also) the earth (laid on) with verdant leafy twigs for your bed, oh, rise, let us repair to the forest, where even the name is not heard of the ignoble rich whose minds are stultified by indiscretion and whose speech is constantly delirious with the maladies of wealth.
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फलं स्वेच्छालभ्यं प्रतिबनमखेदं क्षितिरुहां |
27. When there is the fruit of trees easily obtainable at will in every forest, when there is cool refreshing drink in holy streams from place to place and soft bed made of tender twigs and creepers, still (alas !) men aggrieved with lucre undergo sorrows at the doors of the rich.
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ये वर्तन्ते धनपतिपुरः प्रार्थनादुःखभाजो |
28. Reposing on the bed of stone within the mountain cave, during intervals of meditation, (well) may I recollect with an inward smile the days of those afflicted through their suing before the rich, or of those grown mean through their minds being content with seeking enjoyments
[If this verse is read differently with वर्धन्ते for वतन्ते and वासराणां for वासराणि the idea becomes, in the words of Mr. Telang, this : ‘‘The suppliant of the rich thinks the days too long as he has to suffer the trouble of constant entreaties often unsuccessful ; the person engaged in the pursuit of world]y objects thinks time too short; be has never enough of it to compass all his numerous ends . On the other hand the philosopher laughs at both for their delusions. In this case ये in lines 1 and 2 refers to days, and for पर्याप्त in line 2 we have to read पर्यस्त too.]
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ये संतोषनिरन्तरप्रमुदितास्तेषां न भिन्न मुदो |
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इत्थं कस्य कृते कृतः स विधिना कीदृक् पदं संपदां |
29. The felicity of those, whom contentment unceasingly makes happy, is not interrupted, while the cravings of those of greedy and con- founded minds are never quenched. Such being the case, for whom did the Creator create the Meru, representing inconceivable wealth, but confining to itself the glorious potency of its gold ? I would not covet it.
[कस्य कृते कृतः etc. The idea is that Meru, the (fabled} mountain of gold, serves no useful purpose to anybody and so I would not go in for it (न मे रोचते) : because those that are contented feel quite happy without possessing it, and those that hanker after wealth feel never satisfied howsoever big might be their acquisitions स्वात्मन्येव समाप्तहेममहिमा– Its gold serves only to glorify itself, but not satisfy the greedy.]
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भिक्षाहारमदैन्यमप्रतिसुखं भीतिच्छिदं सर्वतो |
30. The great Yogis describe food which begging brings as follows : it does not humiliate (vide Verse No . 23) ; it is an independent pleasure (i.e. not dependent on the pleasure of earning money, fulfilling Social duty etc.) ; it is in all respects free from any anxious fear (i.e. about one's expenditure, foodbstores. etc.) ; it destroys wicked price, egotism, and impatience ; it eradicates the manifold evils of worldly existence ; it is easily available anywhere any day without efforts ; it is the beloved of the holy 1rmen ; it is a purification by itself ; it is as the inexhaustible feeding-house of Siva, access to which none can prevent.
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भोगे रोगभयं कुले च्युतिभयं वित्त नृपालाद्भयं |
31 . In enjoyment, there is the fear of disease ; in social position, the fear of falling-off; in wealth, the fear of (hostile) kings ; in honour, the fear of humiliation ; in power, the fear of foemen ! in beauty, the fear of old age ; in scriptural erudition, the fear of opponents ; in virtue , the fear of traducers ; in body, the fear of death. All the things of this world pertaining to man are attended with fear ; renunciation alone stands for fearlessness.
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आक्रान्तं मरणेन जन्म जरसा चात्युज्वलं यौवनं |
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लोकेर्भत्सरिभिर्गुणा वनभुवो व्यालैनृर्षा दुर्जनै- |
32. Birth is preyed upon (lit. attacked) by death ; brilliant youth by old age; contentment by greed ; happiness of self-control by the wiles of gay women ; virtues by the jealousy of men ; forest tracts by beasts of prey ; kings by the wicked (in counsel) ; and powers even are vitiated by their evanescence ; what on earth is not seized upon by something else ?
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आधिव्याधिशतैर्जनस्य विविधैरारोग्यमुन्मूल्यते । |
33. Health of men is destroyed (lit. rooted out) by hundreds of varied ailments of body and mind ; wherever there is Lakshmi (the goddess of prosperity), there perils find an open access ; death sure annexes to itself, rendering impotent very soon. whatever is born again and again. Then what is created as stable by the absolute Creator ?
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भोगास्तुङ्गतरङ्गभङ्गतरलाः प्राणाः क्षणध्वंसिनः |
34. Enjoyments are unstable like the breaking of high billows, life is liable to speedy dissolution ; the buoyancy of youthful happiness centered in our objects of love lasts for few days. Understanding that the whole world is unsubstantial, ye wise teachers of men with minds intent on benefiting mankind (by living exemplary lives), put forth your energies (for attaining the highest beatitude)
[लोकानुग्रहपेशलेन मनसा –लोकानाम् of men अनुग्रहे for the benefiting (out of kindness) पेशलं attached. The sense is that out of sympathy for suffering mankind, you shall ( by your exemplary lives and your counsels show men the way to cross the ocean of samsara (world).]
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भोगा मेघवितानमध्यविलसत्सौदामिनीचञ्चला |
35. Enjoyments of embodied beings are feeling like the quick play of lightning within a mass of clouds ; life is as insecure as a drop of water attached to the edge of a lotus-leaf and dispersed by the wind ; the desires of youth are unsteady ; realizing these quickly, let the wise firmly fix their minds in Yoga, easily attainable by patience and equanimity.
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आयुः कल्लोललोलं कतिपयदिवसस्थायिनी यौवनश्री- |
36. Life is changing like a big wave, beauty of youth abides for a few days ; earthly possessions are as transient as thought; the whole series of our enjoyments are like (occasional) flashes of autumnal lightning ; the embrace round the neck given by our beloved ones lingers only for a while. To cross the ocean (of the fear) of the world, attach your mind to Brahman.
[भवभय--the great fear of finding yourself bound by the world attended with so many afflictions and yet finding no way out of it.
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कृच्छ्णामेध्यमध्ये नियमिततनुभिः स्थीयते गर्भवासे |
37. In the womb man lies within impure matter in discomfort with limbs cramped; in youth enjoyment is tainted with the intense suffering of mental distraction arising from separation from our beloved; even old age (is undesirable), being the object of contemptible laughter from women. (Then) oh me, say if there is a particle of happiness in the world.
[The idea is that none of the stages of life, beginning rom the embryo, are worth living. as they are attended with serious drawbacks.]
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व्याघ्रीव तिष्ठति जरा परितर्जयन्ती |
38. Old age loons (ahead} frightening men like a tigress ; (different) diseases afflict the (human) body like enemies; life is flowing away like water running out of a leaky vessel ; still, how wonderful, that mat goes on doing wicked deeds !
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भोगा भंगुरवृत्तयो बहुविधतैरेव चायं भव- |
39. Manifold and transitory in nature are the enjoyments and of such is this world made up. So what for would you wander about here, O men ? Cease exerting yourselves (for them); and if you put faith in our word, on its Supreme Foundation (lit, abode) concentrate your mind, purified by quelling hope with its hundred meshes, and freed from its liability to create desire
[कामोत्पत्तिवशत्-(We accept this reading as found in the edition we translate from, but the meaning given of it by the commentator Budhendra We do not here follow He makes the expression qualify the verb ‘concentrate, explaining काम as अनुराग or love. His meaning thus becomes : swayed by the development of love or Bhakti)--Literally, (turned) away from the sway (वश) of the rise of desires.
Enjoyments are transitory individually and inexhaustible collectively, so we are in = never-ending wild-goose chase which brings in turns stimulation and grief. Desire produces this terrible entanglement and hope, keeps it on. Therefore don't exert yourself for these enjoyments but freeing your mind from hope and desire set it high on its supreme goal. This is the argument.
Another reading seems to be कामोच्छित्तिवश which means - “'attainable by the uprooting of desires. "
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ब्रह्मन्द्रादिमरुद्गणांस्तृणकणान्यत्र स्थितो मन्यते |
40. There is one Enjoyment and one alone, lasting, immutable, and supreme, of which the taste renders tasteless the greatest possessions, such as the sovereignty of the three worlds, and established in which a Brahma, Indra, or the gods (i.e. their positions) appear like particles of grass Do not, oh Sudhu, set your heart on any ephemeral enjoyment other than that.
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स नम्या नगरी महान्स नृपतिः सामन्तचक्रं च त- |
41. That lovely city, that grand monarch, and that circle of feudatory Kings at his side, that cabinet of shrewd counsellors of his and those beauties with moon-like faces, that group of wayward princes, those court-minstrels and their songs of praise--under whose power all this fleeted away and became objects of memory, to that Kala (time or the principle of charge) salutation ! [उद्वृत्त -Another reading is उद्रिक्त which means haughty'.]
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यत्रानेकः क्वचिदपि गृहे तत्र तिंस्ट्यथैको |
42. Where in some home (or, a square in the case of a checkerboard) there once were many, there is now one, and where there was one or many successively, there is zone at the end (of the game)--this is the process in which expert Kala plays (his game) on the checkerboard of this world with living beings as the pieces to be moved, and casting the two dice of day and night.
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आदित्यस्य गतागतैरहरहः संक्षीथते जीवितं |
43 . Daily, with the rising and setting of the sun, life shortens, and time (i.e. its flight) is not felt on account of affairs heavily burdened with manifold activities. Neither is fear produced at beholding birth, death, old age, and sufferings. (Alas), the world is become mad by drinking the stupefying wine of delusion
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रात्रिः सैवे पुनः स एव दिवसो मत्वा मुधा जन्तवो |
44, Seeing even the same night to be ever following the same day, in vain do creatures run on (their Worldly course) perseveringly and busy with various activities set ageing secretly, i.e. by individual mental resolves. Alas, through infatuation we do not feel ashamed at being thus befooled by this samsara (life) with occupations in which the same particulars repeat themselves !
[The idea is : How profoundly deluded by desire we live ! For never growing old itself, it makes all things look fresh and new, otherwise no worldly pursuit has any real novelty. They are as stale as the uniform appearance of day and night, following each other.
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न ध्यातं पदमीश्वरस्य विधिवत्संसारविच्छित्तये |
[न ध्यातं etc. -The feet of the Lord have not been meditated upon (by me) in due form for he sake of doing away with this samsara or worldly bondage. स्वर्गद्वार-etc.—Neither has dharm (merit through performance of religious duties) been earned, such as is strong to knock open the gates of heaven. मातुः केवलमेव etc.- We have simply proved to be hatchets, as it were, to cut down the garden of our mother's youth, i.e., we have simply made our mother age through giving birth to us, that is the only result we find worthy of mention.]
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नाभ्यस्ता प्रतिवादिवृन्ददनी बिघा बिनीतोचिता |
man, such as enables one to defeat hosts of disputants, has not been acquired. खड्गाग्रैः etc.--By the point of the sword strong to knock down the capacious temples of elephants, fame has not been carried to the heaven तारुण्यं etc.-Useless has youth passed away like a lamp in a deserted house.
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विद्या नाधिगता कलङ्करहिता वित्तं च नोपार्जितं |
विद्या नाधिगता etc .- Knowledge free from defect has not been mastered; कलङ्करहिता means 'free from doctrines incapable of proof.' वित्तं च etc.--Riches neither are earned. शुश्रुषापि etc,- Services to parents have not been rendered with single-mindedness . कालोऽयं etc.--Like crows, all the time has been passed in greediness for food, i.e., maintenance obtainable from) others
[These three stanzas (Nos. 45, 46, 47) strike a rather anomalous mote. Here the poet personates a man whose life has been, like the lamp burning in a deserted abode, a thorough failure. Such a man is looking back on his youthful years of unmitigated worthlessness. But are the reflections he is making here typical of those who are at the threshold of true renunciation? By no means are they typical. The poet here simply takes up a particular case of an aspirant after renunciation which may just serve his poetical purposes best. This aspirant has had in his youth to taste of glory either as a pious man, a dutiful son, a scholarly student, a brave warrior, or a lover of women. He appears to lament here that none of the fourfold aim of human life ( धर्मे, religious merit; अर्थ, wealth; काम, fulfilment of desires; and मोक्ष, final salvation ) has been pursued by ( him in the past with any the slightest success. Perhaps he means that that is best calculated to impress on his mind the vanity of all the ends of a householder's life. But this impression of vanity and consequent non-attachment may very well come, and come with perhaps greater completeness, to men who had the ability to succeed in life, and such men may not at all look back with any lingering regret on enjoyments they are going to leave behind, whether their harvest had been actually reaped by them or not. There is even some inconsistency in the ring of regret running through these stanzas. But the poet is here more concerned with dramatic effect than psychological precision.]
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वयं येभ्यो जाताश्चिरपरिचिता एव खलु ते |
48. Those from whom we were born, well, they are now on intimate footing with Eternity (long dead) ; those with whom we were brought up have also become objects of memory. Now (that we have become old) we are approaching nearer to our fall day by day, our condition being comparable to that of trees on the sandy bank of a river.
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[ चिरपरिचिताः—A simpler reading is चिरपरिगताः । ] |
49. The life of man (as ordained) is limited to one hundred years; half of it is spent in night. and out of the other half one half again is passed in childhood and old age; and the rest which has its illness, bereavements, and troubles is spent in serving (others). What happiness can there be for mortals in a life (again) which is even more uncertain than the ripples (on the surface) of water?
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क्षणं बालो भूत्वा क्षणमपि युवा कामरसिकः |
50. Now a child for a while and then a youth of erotic ways, a destitute now for a while and then in abundance, just like an actor, man makes at the end of his role -- when diseased in all limbs by age and wrinkled all over the body--his exit behind the scene that veils the abode of Yama (death).
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त्वं राजा वयमप्युपासितगुरुप्रज्ञाभिमानोन्नताः |
51. Thou art a king ; we too are elevated through self-assurance about our wisdom acquired from our preceptor whom we served. Thoउ art celebrated through thy possessions ; our fame is spread abroad in all quarters by the learned men. Thus a great difference there is between us both, made by honour and riches. If thou art cold towards us, we too are perfectly indifferent towards thee.
[The Šloka is addressed by a Yati (one who has renounced the world) to a king. The Yati wants to inform the king of the vanity of his possessions, and so is declaring that a Yati is greater than the king. For the king is rich in wealth only, but he is rich in wisdom which should command even the respect of a king]
For मानधनातिदूरं another reading is मानद नातिदूरं which may be rendered-"not much difference, O proud (king)."]
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अर्थानामीशिषे त्वं वयमपि च गिरामीश्महे यावदर्थं |
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सेवन्ते त्वां धनाढ्या मतिमलहतये मामपि श्रोतुकामा |
52. Thou exercisest kingly power over riches, we do the same over words (i.e. ideas or scriptures) in all their senses. Thou art a hero (in battle), while we have never-failing skill in methods of subduing the pride of disputants. lt is the rich who serve thee, while, intent on learning (higher truths, men serve us to have all imperfections of mind destroyed. If thou hast no regard for me, well, O king, I have absolutely none for thee.
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वयमिह परितुष्टा वल्कलैस्त्वं दुकूलैः |
53. Here we are satisfied with the bark of trees and thou with rich garment ; (and yet) our contentment is alike, (so) the distinction makes no difference. Poor indeed is he whose desires are boundless. If the mind be contented, who is rich and who poor ?
[One who is satisfied with even what little he possesses is as good as the rich.]
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फलमलमशनाय स्वादु पानाय तोयं |
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नवधनमधुपानभ्रान्तसर्वेन्द्रियाणा- |
54. Fruits for food, tasteful water for drink, bare ground to lie upon, barks of trees for clothing, are sufficient (for us), I cannot bring myself to approve of the misbehaviour of evil men whose senses are all led astray by drinking the wine of newly acquired wealth
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अशीमहि वयं भिक्षामाशावासो वसीमहि । |
55. Let us eat the food we have begged ; ळल्et the sky be our clothing ; ]et us lie down on the surface of the earth ; what have we to do with the rich ?
[ आशा-–the four quarters. ]
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न नटा न विटा न गायका |
56. Who are we to go to see a king-not dancers , court-jesters, or singers, nor experts an (learned} disputes with others in a court. nor youthful court mistresses ! (That is, we have absoutely no business to go to a king)
[The विट is generally a parasite of a prince.]
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विपुलहृदयैरीशैरेतज्जगज्जनितं पुरा |
57. In ancient times (the kingdom of) this world was created by some large-hearted monarchs; by some was it sustained (i.e. ruled) and by others was it conquered and given away like straw. Even now, some heroes enjoy the fourteen divisions of the world. For what then is this feverish pride of men having sovereignty over a few towns only ?
[ चतुर्दश भवनानेि—The fourteen divisions of the world, that is, the entire created universe.]
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अभुक्तायां यस्यां क्षणमपि न जातं नृपशत- |
58 . What high dignity, alas, is there for kings in gaining that earth which has never for a moment been left unenjoyed by hundreds of rulers! The stupid owners of even a shred of the limb of a fraction of its fraction (i.e. of the most minute particle) feel delighted, whereas, on the contrary, they ought to grieve !
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मृत्पिण्डो जलरेखया वलयितः सर्वोऽप्ययं नन्वणुः |
59. It (the earth) is but a lump of cay circled by a ring of water! Even the whole of it is but a particle. Hosts of kings, having parti tioned it after fighting hundreds of battles, enjoy it. These very poor insignificant persons may or do give. Nothing is strange for them. But down right shame on those mean fellows who would beg bits of coin from them even!
[May or do give—to indulge in a bit of self-gratification.]
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स जातः कोऽप्यासीन्मदनरिपुणा मूर्ध्नि धवलं |
60. That man is indeed born (truly great) whose white skull (after death) is placed by (Siva) the enemy of Madana (Cupid) high on the head as an ornament ; (and) what is (worth) this rising fever of exceeding pride in men, who are nowadays adored by some people with minds intent on the preservation of their lives ! [The great Siva is called Kapali, Kapala meaning skul] ; the popular belief is that He puts on His head the skull of a hero whose wonderful life lived on earth merits this distinction.]
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परेषां चेतांसि प्रतिदिवसमाराध्य बहुधा |
61. Why, O heart, dost thou set thyself on winning good graces, so hard to secure, by daily propitiating other men's minds in various ways? When, being serene inwardly and free from society, thou hast gems of thought rising up of themselves (i.e. when desires do not induce your thinking), what objects mere wish (even ) would not bring to thee ?
[The idea would come out more clearly, if we read, as many have done, क्लेशकलिलं and चिन्तामणिगुणः ; the first expression would then mean "a (chaotic) mass of troubles" instead of hard } to secure, and the verb विशसि would have its primary sense of "entering into". स्वयमुदितचिन्तामणिगणः would then mean "having the virtue of a philosopher's stone developed of itself in thee" --i.e., प्राप्तिः, one of the eight Yogic powers. विविक्तः we prefer to render as "free from the company of others"–a state opposed to what is implied when we have to depend on others for gratifying our desires.]
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परिभ्रमसि कि मुधा क्वचन चित्त विश्रम्यतां |
62. Why dost thou, my mind, wander about in Vain ? Rest (thyself) somewhere. Whatever happens in a particular way, happens so by itself, and not otherwise. So not thinking over the past, nor resolving about the future, I realize enjoyments that come without engaging my thoughts.
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एतस्माद्विरमेन्द्रियार्थगहनादaयासन्नादाश्रय |
63. Desist, o heart, from the troublous labyrinth of sense-objects ; take that path of (highest) good which is capable of bringing about in a moment the destruction of endless troubles; get thee to the state of thy Atman ; give up thy stream-like agitated flux; b¢ calm now and never again seek transient worldly attachments.
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मोहं मजर्जय तामुपार्जय रतिं चन्द्रार्धभूडामणौ |
Him whose crown is begemmed with the crescent. Oh heart, accept attachment to some spot on the banks of the celestial river (Gaiga). What reliability is there on waves or bubbles, flashes of lightning or (Smiles of) fortune, in tongues of fame, serpents, or hosts of friends ?
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चेतश्चिन्तय मा रमां सकृदिसमस्थायिनीमस्थया |
65. O heart, never for a while earnestly think of the frail goddess of fortune, whose business is to sell herself away while moving in her haunt, namely, the wrinkle of a king's brow (i.e. the bargain is struck by the smile or the frown of kings). Let us clothe ourselves in ragged garments and entering the doors of houses in the streets of Varanasi wait for the alms to be placed in the receptacle of our hands.
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अग्र गीतं सरसकवयः पार्श्वर्दाक्षिणात्याः |
66. If there are songs (going on) before you, sweet (skilfull) poets from the South by your side and the tinkling of the moving bracelets of female waiters with waving chories in their hands, then lavishly attach thyself to the enjoyment of worldly happiness. If otherwise, O my heart, then plunge into the absolute type of meditation.
[निविकल्प समाधि-—The deepest concentration losing all separate consciousness of the knower, the known, and the knowing . चामर is the bushy tail of the yak used as a fan, being one of the insignia of royalty.
The argument in this sloka is that if you can find only enjoyment everywhere, you may enjoy, but really such enjoyment cannot be found in this World of misery. All worldly pleasures are transient and limited. For in the next sloka we find that the author is preaching the uselessness of the fulfilment of worldly desires.]
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प्राप्ताः श्रियः सकलकामदुघास्ततः कि |
67. Though embodied beings obtain that prosperity from which all desires are milked, what then ? What if their feet be placed on the heads of their enemies ? Or what if their wealth brings friends, or if their bodies endure till the end of the creative cycle ?
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भक्तिर्भवे मरणजन्मभयं हृदिस्थं |
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संसर्गदोषरहिता विजन वनान्ता |
68. When there is devotion for Siva, as also fear of birth and death in the heart, no attachment for family, no excitement of sexual passions -when there is the Solitude of forest depths unsullied by the company (of worldly men), and there is renunciation-what better, then, is to be wished for ?
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तस्मादनन्तमजरं परमं विकासि |
69. What avails all this agitating over the unreal ? Meditate, therefore, on that Supreme, in finite, ageless, effulgent Brahman, in the light of which all such enjoyments as the sovereignty of the world appear as the desires of pitiable men !
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पातालमाविशसि यासि नभो विलङ्घय |
70. Being thus agitated, O mind, thou (now descendent into the nether regions, (now) soarest up beyond the skies, and wanderest all around the four quarters. Why, even by mistake, thou dost not once concentrate on that Brahman, of the nature of Self and bereft of all imperfections, whereby you may attain supreme bliss !
[आत्मनीनम्-means "belonging to Self,” as the real state of Self is Brahman. The other reading आत्मलीनम् would mean, ‘‘submerged in Self," being its substance or reality.
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किं वेदैः स्मृतिभि पुराणपठनैः शास्त्रेर्महाविस्तरैः |
71. What are worth the Vedas. the Smyrtis, the readings from the Puranas, the vast Sastras, or the mazes of ceremonials, which give us, as their fruits, a resting-place in heaven, (which is, as it were, ) a village (interspersed) with huts! All else is but the bargaining of traders except that one way which admits one into the state of Supreme bliss in one's Self. and which is like the (final) destructive fire to consume the evolving mass of Worldly miseries.
[The Sastras, by which are meant here logic, grammar, etc., and the six systems of philosophy, are said to be vast because of the amplitude of comment, illustration and argument with which their doctrines have been developed.}
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यतो मेरुः श्रीमान्निपतति युगान्ताग्निवलितः |
72. Seeing that, when set all over with the fires of cyclic destruction the stately mountain. Meru topples down, the seas which are the abode of numerous sharks and aquatic animals are dried up, and the earth (itself) comes to an end, though held firm by the feet of mountains, what to speak of this body as unsteady as the tip of the ear of a young elephant !
[ धरणिधर-—According to Hindu mythology the mountains are regarded as the supporters of the earth युगान्ताग्नि-cosmic conflagration at the end of a cycle.]
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गात्रं संकुचितं गतिर्विगलिता भूष्टा च दन्तावलि- |
73. (In old age) the body becomes shriveled, the gait becomes unsteady, the teeth fall out, the eye-sight is lost, deafness increases, the month slavers, relatives do not value (one's} words, the wife does not nurse, and even the son turns hostile, Oh the misery of a man of Worn-out age !
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वर्ण' सितं भ्कटिति बोध्य शिरोरुहाणां |
74. Seeing the grey hairs on the head of a man, emblematic of discomfiture by old age, youthful women at once fly away from him, as if from a Chandala’s (the untouchable in caste) well whereon is placed a structure of bones !
[ आरोपितास्थिशतकं—May be taken to qualify पुमांसम् or कूपम् , if it be taken to qualify the former, it would mean : this framework of bones (meaning the old man) It was a custom in former times with the Chandalas to line their well with bones for ornamentation.]
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यावत्स्वस्थमिदं शरीरमरुजं यावज्जरा द्वरतो |
75. As long as this body is free from disease and decrepitude, as long as senility is far off, as long as the powers of the senses are unaffected and life is not decaying. so long, wise persons should put forth mighty exertions for the sake of their supreme good, for when the house is on fire what avails setting about digging a well (for water) ?
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तपस्यन्तः सन्तः किमधिनिवसमः सुरनदीं |
76. Shall we live by the celestial river practicing austerities, or shall we amiably serve (our) wives graced by virtues ; shall we drink of the currents of scriptural literature, or of the nectar of diverse poetical literature ? Man having the longevity of a few twinkling's of the eye, we do not know which (of these) to undertake !
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दुराराध्याश्चामी तुरगचलचिताः क्षितिभुजो |
77. These rulers of the world have minds restless like a horse and (therefore) difficult to please, while we are ambitious with minds pitched on vast gain ; age steals away bodily strength and death cuts short this dear life. Ah ! friend, nothing is good for the wise in this world excepting the practice of austerities !
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माने स्लायिनि खण्डिते व वसुनि व्यर्थे प्रयातेऽर्थिनि |
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युक्त' केवलमेतदेव मुधियां यमहनुवन्पथः |
78. When honour has faded, wealth has become ruined, those who sue for favours have deperted in disappointment, friends have dwindled away, retainers have left, and youth has gradually decayed, there remains only one thing proper for the wise. -residence somewhere in a grove on the side of a valley of the Himalayas whose rocks are purified by the waters of the Ganga. [ जहनुकन्या - The Ganga is so called or account of the myth that Rsi Jahnu drank it up and then disgorged at through his ear or thigh, when in its course towards the Bay of Bengal after its descent from the heaven it overflowed the sacrificial platform of the Rsi. Examination of the traditional place where the Rsi is supposed to have lived in ancient times, suggests the likelihood of the course of the river being obstructed by an extensive eminence with pervious soil and of its delayed emergence on the other side.]
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रम्याचन्द्रमरीचपस्तृणवती रम्या वनान्तःस्थली |
79, Delightful are the rays of the moon, delightful the grassy plots in the outskirts of the forest, delightful are the pleasure of wise men's society, delightful the narratives in poetical literature, and delightful the face of the beloved swimming in the tear-drops of ( feigned ) anger . Everything is charming, but nothing is so when the mind is possessed by the evanescence of things.
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रम्यं हम्यंतलं न कि वसतये श्रव्यं न गेयादिकं |
80. Is not a palace pleasant to dwell in ? Is not music with its accompaniments agreeable to listen to? Is not the society of women, dear as life itself, very pleasing ? Yet, wise men have gone away to the forest, regarding these things as unstable as the shadow of a lamp's flame flickering through the puff of the wings of a deluded moth
[ भ्रान्त also has the meaning of hovering.' ]
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आसंसारात्त्रिभुवनमिदं चिन्वतां तात ताद्द- |
81. Oh dear ! in our quest through the three worlds from the very beginning of their creation, none such has come within sight or hearing, that can play the part of a controlling trap for the elephant of his mind when maddened by the mysterious, deep-rooted infaluation for the feimale elephant of sense-object
[ आनाय is the elephant-trap. Another reading is आलान which means ‘a tying post for an elephant" क्षीबस्य-"of the maddened".]
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यदेतत्स्वच्छन्दं विहरणमकार्पण्यमशनं |
82. This freedom to wander about this food to which no meanness attaches, the company of holy men, the cultivation of Vedic wisdom, of which (unlike other vows) the only fruit is spiritual peace, the mind also restrained in its movements towards external things. —to such a consummation, I know not after lifelong reflection, what noble austerities may lead !
[ उषशम is the cessation of the illusions, and so of the worries, of the world. This is said to be the only fruit borne by the pursuit of this vow, namely, क्ष्रुतम or study of Vedic wisdom, other vows being ordained to bear fruits in the form of worldly prosperity. ]
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जीर्णा एव मनोरथाश्च हृदये यातं च तद्यौवनं |
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किं युक्त सहसाभ्युपैति बलवान्कालः कृतान्तोऽक्षमी |
83. Desires have worn off in our heart. Alas! youth has also passed away from the body. The virtues have proved barren for want of appreciative admirers. The powerful, all-destroying, unrelenting Death is fast has hastening in ! What is to be done ? Ah me ! I see there is no other refuge left except the feet of the Destroyer of Cupid. [ मदनान्तक–Siva is so called in allusion to His having turned the god Cupid to ashes on the eve of His marriage with Gauri. ]
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महेश्वरे वा जगतामधीश्वरे |
84. I make no difference in substance between Siva, the Lord of the universe and Visnu, the inmost Self of the universe. But still my devotion is (attached) to the One in whose crest there is the crescent moon
[ This sloka has been brought forward by the poet as a doubt may arise in the mind from the preceding sloka where the poet says that Siva is the only Lord to take our refuge in. Here the poet says that really there is no difference between Siva and Vishnu . But he is by nature attached to Siva. This is what is called Istanistha, or the devotion to one's own ideal.
The word Janardana has been variously derived, the verb अर्द meaning both ‘destroying" and 'protecting' . If the former meaning be taken, then the word would mean "slayer of he Janas" (some demons living in the sea.)
जगदन्तरात्मनि—This word has been variously interpreted: (1) "the inmost Self of the universe', (2) ‘‘One, who is the knower of all inner things in the universe' ', (3) One who is the Self of all in the universe", or itmay mean, (4) "in whose Self is the whole universe." }
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स्फुरत्स्फारज्योत्स्नाधवलिततले क्वापि पुलिने |
85. Sitting in peaceful posture, during nights when all sounds are stilled into silence, somewhere on the banks of the heavenly river which shine with the white glow of the bright-diffused moonlight, and fearful of, the miseries of birth and death, crying aloud "Siva, Siva, Siva,” ah ! when shall we attain that ecstasy which is characterized by copious tears of joy held in internal control !
[ The last line reads also differently-कदा स्यामानन्दोद्गतबहुलबाष्पाकुलदृशः .When shall we have our eyes filled with copious tears arising out of joy ?" ]
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वितीर्णे सर्वस्वे तरूणकरुणापूर्णहृदयाः |
86. Giving away all possessions, with a heart filled with tender compassion, remembering the course of Destiny which ends so ruefully in this world and, as the only refuge, for us. meditating on the feet of Hara ( i. e. Siva ), O! We shall spend, in the holy forest, nights aglow with the beams of the full autumnal moon
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कदा वाराणस्याममरतटिनीरोधसि वस- |
87. When shall I pass the days like a moment, residing on the banks of the celestial river in Varanasi, clad in kaupina (a strip of cloth) and with folded hands raised to the forehead, crying out ——‘Oh Lord of Gauri, the Slayer of Tripura, the Giver of all good, the Three-eyed, have mercy!"
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स्रात्वा गाङ्गेः पयोभिः शुचिकुसुमफलरर्चयित्वा विभो त्वां |
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आत्मारामः फलाशी गुरुवचनरतस्त्वत्प्रसादात्स्मरारे |
88. Having bathed in the waters of the Ganga and worshipped Thee, O Lord, with unblemished fruits and flowers and having concentrated my mind, by my stony bed within the mountain cave, on the object of my meditation—blissful in the Self alone, living on fruits, and devoted to the Guru's words-when shall I, O Thou Enemy of Cupid, through Thy grace become released from the grief which has arisen from my serving the man of prosperity ?
[ समकरचरणे—with the sign of a shark in the feet" said to be a sign of uncommon prosperity according to the science of divination by bodily signs. ]
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एकाकी निःस्पृहः शान्तः पाणिपात्रो दिगम्बरः । |
89. O Siva, when shall I, living alone, free from desires, peaceful in mind, with only the hand to eat from and the four quarters for garment (i.e. naked), be able to root out all Karma ?
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पाणि पात्रयतां निसर्गशुचिना भैक्षेण संतुष्यतां |
from, who are contented with begged food, pure by itself, who repose themselves anywhere (i.e. require no house or bed), who constantly regard the universe like almost a blade of grass, who even before giving up the body experience the uninterrupted Supreme Bliss--for such Yogis indeed the path which is easy of access by Siva's grace becomes attainable. (The path, that is to say, of Moksa or supreme liberation).
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कौपीनं शतखण्डजर्जरतरं कन्था पुनस्तादृशी |
91. If there is a kaupina (even) worn out and shredded a hundred times and a wrapper also of the same condition, if one is free from all disquiet ing thought, if food there is, obtained unconditionally from begging, and sleep on a crenation ground or in the forest, if one wanders alone without any let or hindrance, if the mind is always calm, and if one is steadfast in the festive joy of Yoga, what is then worth the rulership of the three worlds ?
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ब्रह्माण्डं मण्डलीमात्रं किं लोभाय मनस्विनः । |
92. Can this universe which is but a mere reflection, engender greed in wise men ? The ocean surely does not become agitated by the movement of a little fish.
[Just as a fish cannot set up a swaying of the ocean, so this universe, a mere image in Pune consciousness cannot move the wise men who identify themselves with it, to any idea of covetousness. मण्डली may simply mean "an orb". which being a limited thing is of little count to the wise man,
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मातर्लक्ष्मि भजस्व कंचिदपरं मत्काइक्षिणी मा स्म भू- |
93. O Mother Lakshmi (Goddess of wealth) , serve (thou) someone else ; do not be longing for me. Those who desire enjoyment are subject to thee. but what art thon to us who are free from desire ? Now we wish to live upon food articles obtained from begging and placed, (conformably to its) being sanctified, in a receptacle of Palasa leaves pieced together on the spot
[These Palasa vessels are enjoined in the Smrtis as purifying the food kept in them ]
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महाशय्या पृथ्वी विपुलमुपधानं भुजलता |
ample pillow, the sky is his canopy, the genial breeze his fan, the autumnal moon is his lamp, and rejoicing in the company of abnegation as his wife, he sage lies down happily, and peacefully, like a monarch of undiminished glory.
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भिक्षाशी जनमध्यसङ्गरहितः स्वायत्तचेष्टः सदा |
95. There lives the real ascetic who feeds himself on alms, unattached to the society of men, always free in his efforts (i.e. without obligation or restraint from outside) and pursuing a path of indifference as regards what to give up or What to take; his worn out garment is made up of rags cast away in the streets, and his seat is a blanket received by chance ; he is devoid of pride and egoism and he is concerned only in enjoying the happiness arising from the control of mind.
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चण्डालः किमयं द्विजातिरथवा शूद्रोऽथ किं तापसः |
96. When accosted by people who loquaciously express doubt and surmise, such as "Is he a Chandala, or a twice-born one, or a Sudra, or an ascetic, or perhaps some supreme Yogi with his mind full of the discrimination of Reality," the Yogis themselves go their way neither pleased nor displeased in mind .
[The Chandala is accursed beyond the pale of the four castes , while the Sudra belongs to the fourth caste. The Brahmana, Ksatriya, and Vaisya form the three twice-born castes.]
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हिंसाशून्यमयललभ्यमशनं धात्रा मरुत्कल्पितं |
97. (If) for serpents (even) air has been provided by the Creator as food obtainable without killing or toiling ; (if ) beasts are contented with feeding on grass-sprouts and lying on ground; for men (also} with intelligence strong enough to lead across the ocean of transmigratory existence, some such livelihood has been created; and those who seek this have all their gunas invariably brought to their final dissolution
[When the ganas sattva, rajas, and tamas-- are finally reduced to the inactivity of equipoise, the Yogi reaches beyond Maya.
The last line may also be interpreted differently--- "But in rummaging for it all one's virtues are apt to come to an end."]
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गङ्गातीरे हिमगिरिशिलाबद्धपद्मासनस्य |
98. Will those happy days come to me when on the bank of the Ganga, sitting in the lotusposture on a piece of stone in the Himalayas, I shall fall into the yoga-nidra (i.e. lose all consciousness in Samadhi or perfect concentration) resulting from a regular practice of the contemplation of Brahman, and when old antelopes having nothing to fear, will rub their limbs against my body !
[ पझासनम्-lit. lotus-seat; sitting cross-legged so that the soles of the feet protrude above along the thighs]
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पाणिः पात्रं पवित्रं भ्रृमणपरिगतं भैक्षमक्षय्यमन्न |
99, With the hand serving as sacred cop, with begged food that comes through wandering and never runs short, with the ten quarters as their ample garment and the earth as a fixed, spacious bed-blessed are they who, having forsaken the manifold Worldly associations which an attitude of want breeds, and self-contented with a heart fully matured through their acceptance of absolute seclusion, root out all Karma (i.e. the complex of causes and effects which grows on as action and desire in life follow each other).
[दैन्यव्यतिकरनिकराः We prefer to take as the many forms of contact with the world which result from the poverty of an attitude of seeking after worldly objects. ]
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मातर्मेदिन तात मारुत सखे तेजः सुबन्धो जल |
100. O Earth, my mother !O Wind, my father ! O Fire, my friend !O Water, my good relative ! O Sky, my brother ! here is my last salutation to you with clasped hands ! Having cast away Infatuation with its wonderful power, by means of an amplitude of pure knowledge resplendent with merits developed through my association with you all, I now merge in the Supreme Brahman.
[The terms of familiarity and endearment used of the five elements are Appropriate in view of the final point of blissful parting to which the Yogi has been carried through those subtle tattvas or essences of the five elements which characterize intermediate stages of Yogic practice.]
Here ends the Vairagya-Satakam