Mādhavānanda
https://archive.org/details/VairagyasatakamOfBhartrhari http://www.vivekananda.net/PDFBooks/VairagyaShatakam.pdf
  चूडोत्तंसित­चन्द्र्रचारुकलिकाचञ्चच्छिखा­भास्वरो लीलादग्धविलोलकामशलभ: श्रेयोदशाग्रे स्फुरन् ।   अन्त:स्फूर्जदपारमोहतिमिर­प्राग्भारमुच्चाटयन्- श्चेत:सद्मनि योगिनां विजयते ज्ञानप्रदीपो हर: ।।१।। 1. All glory to Śiva, the Light of Knowledge, residing in the temple of the yogīs’ heart, who smites away (like the rising sun) 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! [चूडोत्तंसित—made an ornament for the head. चारुकलिका­चञ्चच्छिखा—lambent beams like beautiful half-blooming buds. लीलादग्ध—burnt up at ease or in sport. श्रेयोदशाग्रे—in front of all circum­stances of prosperity. स्फुरन्—appearing. अन्त:स्फूर्जत्—spread­ing forth in the heart. प्राग्भारं—heavy mass at the front. As is customary with Sanskrit poets, this opening verse is dedicatory (to Śiva in this instance), as forming an auspicious introduction.]
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भ्रान्तं देशमनेकदुर्गविषमं प्राप्तं न किञ्चित् फलम्   त्यक्त्वा जातिकुलाभिमानमुचितं सेवा कृता निष्फला । भुक्तं मानविवजिर्तं परगृहेष्वाशङ्कया काकव-   त्तृृष्णे जृम्भसि पापकर्मपिशुने नाद्यापि सन्तुष्यसि ।।२।। 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 the rich; like the crows have I fed 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   निस्तीर्ण: सरितां पतिर्नृपतयो यत्नेन संतोषिता: । मन्त्राराधनतत्परेण मनसा नीता: श्मशाने निशा:   प्राप्त: काणवराटकोऽपि न मया तृष्णे सकामा भव ।।३।। 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; (1) and not even a broken cowrie have I obtained; be satisfied, therefore, oh Desire! [1] 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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खलालापा: सोढा: कथमपि तदाराधनपरै-   निर्गृह्यान्तर्बाष्पं हसितमपि शून्येन मनसा । कृतो वित्तस्तम्भ­प्रतिहतधियामञ्जलिरपि त्वमाशे मोघाशे किमपरमतो नर्तयसि माम् ।।४।। 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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अमीषां प्राणानां तुलितबिसिनीपत्रपयसां   कृते किं नास्माभिविर्गलित­विवेकैर्व्यवसितम् । यदाढ्यानामग्रे द्रविणमदनि:संज्ञमनसां   कृतं वीतव्रीडैनिर्जगुणकथा­पातकमपि ।।५।। 5. What have we not endeavoured to do, with our depraved conscience, for the sake of our prāṇas (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 गृहोचितसुखं त्यक्तं न संतोषत:   सोढा दु:सहशीतवाततपनक्लेशा न तप्तं तप: । ध्यातं वित्तमहनिर्शं नियमितप्राणैर्न शंभो: पदं   तत्तत्कर्म कृतं यदेव मुनिभिस्तैस्तै: फलैर्वञ्चिता: ।।६।। 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 Śiva; 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-   स्तपो न तप्तं वयमेव तप्ता: । कालो न यातो वयमेव याता-   स्तृष्णा न जीर्णा वयमेव जीर्णा: ।।७।। 7. Worldly pleasures have not been enjoyed by us, but we ourselves have been devoured; no religious austerities have been performed, but we ourselves have become scorched; time is not gone (being ever present and infinite), but we ourselves 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 भुक्ता: and तप्ता:, 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 जीर्णा: 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 शिर: । गात्राणि शिथिलायन्ते तृष्णैका तरुणायते ।।८।। 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 गलित:   समाना: स्वर्याता: सपदि सुहृदो जीवितसमा: । शनैर्यष्ट्युत्थानं घनतिमिररुद्धे च नयने   अहो मूढ: कायस्तदपि मरणापायचकित: ।।९।। 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 तृष्णातरङ्गाकुला   रागग्राहवती वितर्कविहगा धैर्यद्रुमध्वंसिनी । मोहावर्तसुदुस्तरातिगहना प्रोत्तुङ्गचिन्तातटी तस्या: पारगता विशुद्धमनसो नन्दन्ति योगीश्वरा: ।।१०।। 10. Hope is like a flowing river of which the ceaseless desires constitutes 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 yogīs of pure mind pass across to enjoy supreme felicity.
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न संसारोत्पन्नं चरितमनुपश्यामि कुशलं   विपाक: पुण्यानां जनयति भयं मे विमृशत: । महद्भि: पुण्यौघैश्चिरपरिगृहीताश्च विषया महान्तो जायन्ते व्यसनमिव दातुं विषयिणाम् ।।११।। 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! [विपाक: पुण्यानां etc.—The idea is to show the futility of good deeds performed in our earthly life with the object of enjoying happiness in heaven or 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, the enjoyments must cease and the soul will again be drawn back to the cycle of births and deaths, until by jñāna or spiritual illumination, it attains mokṣa 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 our thirst and hence is the cause of an added volume of miseries.]
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अवश्यं यातारश्चिरतरमुषित्वापि विषया वियोगे को भेदस्त्यजति न जनो यत् स्वयममून् । व्रजन्त: स्वातन्त्र्यादतुलपरितापाय मनस: स्वयं त्यक्ता ह्येते शमसुखमनन्तं विदधति ।।१२।। 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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ब्रह्मज्ञानविवेकनिर्मलधिय: कुर्वन्त्यहो दुष्करं   यन्मुञ्चन्त्युपभोगभाञ्ज्यपि धनान्येकान्ततो नि:स्पृहा: । संप्राप्तान्न पुरा न संप्रति न च प्राप्तौ दृढप्रत्यया- न्वाञ्छामात्रपरिग्रहानपि परं त्यक्तुं न शक्ता वयम् ।।१३।। 13. Ah! It must be indeed a difficult feat which persons, with their minds purified by the discrimination arising from the 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 ज्योति: परं ध्यायता-     मानन्दाश्रुकणान्पिबन्ति शकुना नि:शङ्कमङ्केशया: ।   अस्माकं तु मनोरथोपरचितप्रासादवापीतट-     क्रीडाकाननकेलिकौतुकजुषामायु: परं क्षीयते ।।१४।। 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. [शकुना नि:शङ्कमङ्केशया:—The birds have approached them fearlessly, because they have reached the state of tranquility and harmlessness, realizing the oneness of life.]
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  भिक्षाशनं तदपि नीरसमेकवारं     शय्या च भू: परिजनो निजदेहमात्रम् ।   वस्त्रं विशीर्णशतखण्डमयी च कन्था     हा हा तथापि विषया न परित्यजन्ति ।।१५।। 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 मुखं श्लेष्मागारं तदपि च शशाङ्केन तुलितम् । स्रवन्मूत्रक्लिन्नं करिवरशिर:स्पधिर् जघनं मुहुनिर्न्द्यं रूपं कविजनविशेषैर्गुरु कृतम् ।।१६।। 16. 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. करिवरशिर:स्पधिर्—claiming likeness with the ele­phant’s forehead. मुहुनिर्न्द्यं रूपं etc.—form deserving constant contempt has been magnified (in praise) by certain poets.
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एको रागिषु राजते प्रियतमादेहार्धहारी हरो   नीरागेषु जनो विमुक्तललनासङ्गो न यस्मात्पर: । दुर्वारस्मरबाणपन्नगविषव्याविद्धमुग्धो जन:   शेष: कामविडम्बितान्न विषयान्भोक्तुं न मोक्तुं क्षम: ।।१७।। 17. Among sensual persons, Śiva 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. [प्रियतमादेहार्धहारी —This refers to the symbolic representation of Śiva and Gaurī 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 क्षम: —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   स मीनोऽप्यज्ञानाद्वडिशयुतमश्नातु पिशितम् । विजानन्तोऽप्येते वयमिह विपज्जालजटिला-   न्न मुञ्चाम: कामानहह गहनो मोहमहिमा ।।१८।। 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, even though 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     षुधार्त: शाल्यन्नं कवलयति मांसादिकलितम् ।   प्रदीप्ते कामाग्नौ सुदृढतरमालिङ्गति वधूं     प्रतीकारं व्याधे: सुखमिति विपर्यस्यति जन: ।।१९।। 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 remedying these diseases (of hunger, thirst and lust); and behold, how man (i.e., his sense) is upset in its quest! [प्रतीकारं व्याधे: सुखमिति—The main point to be understood is 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 सुता: सतामभिमता: संख्यातिगा: संपद:     कल्याणी दयिता वयश्च नवमित्यज्ञानमूढो जन: ।   मत्वा विश्वमनश्वरं निविशते संसारकारागृहे     संदृश्य क्षणभङ्गुरं तदखिलं धन्यस्तु संन्यस्यति ।।२०।। 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 impermanence of the same world, renounces it.
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  दीना दीनमुखै: सदैव शिशुकैराकृष्टजीर्णाम्बरा     क्रोशद्भि: क्षुधितैनिर्रन्नविधुरा दृश्या न चेद्गेहिनी ।   याञ्चाभङ्गभयेन गद्गदगलत्त्रुट्यद्विलीनाक्षरं     को देहीति वदेत् स्वदग्धजठरस्यार्थे मनस्वी पुमान् ।।२१।। 21. If one had an 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     गुरुतर­गुणग्रामाम्भोज­स्फुटोज्ज्वलचन्द्रिका ।   विपुल­विलसल्लज्जावल्ली­वितानकुठारिका     जठरपिठरी दुष्पूरेयं करोति विडम्बनम् ।।२२।। 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 सितपटच्छन्नपालिं कपालिं     ह्यादाय न्यायगर्भ­द्विजहुतहुत­भुग्धूमधूम्रोपकण्ठे ।   द्वारं द्वारं प्रविष्टो वरमुदरदरीपूरणाय क्षुधार्तो     मानी प्राणै: सनाथो न पुनरनुदिनं तुल्यकुल्येषु दीन: ।।२३।। 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 Brāhmanas versed in ritualistic niceties, and thus preserve the prāṇas, rather than live (like) a beggar from day to day among those who are socially 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 recluses live. Covered, etc.—this seems to have been the custom, to prevent the food from being seen by passers-by.]
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  गङ्गातरङ्गकणशीकरशीतलानि     विद्याधराध्युषितचारुशिलातलानि ।   स्थानानि किं हिमवत: प्रलयं गतानि     यत्सावमानपरपिण्डरता मनुष्या: ।।२४।। 24. Ah! is it that those Himalayan solitudes, cooled by the spray of minute bits of Gaṅgā’s waves and abounding in beautiful rocky flats such as are the haunts of the Vidyādharas, 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 Vidyādharas are unearthly beings with super-human skill in arts, specially music.]
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  किं कन्दा: कन्दरेभ्य: प्रलयमुपगता निर्झरा वा गिरिभ्य:     प्रध्वस्ता वा तरुभ्य: सरसफलभृतो वल्कलिन्यश्च शाखा: ।   वीक्ष्यन्ते यन्मुखानि प्रसभमपगतप्रश्रयाणां खलानां     दु:खाप्तस्वल्पवित्तस्मय­पवनवशान्नतिर्तभ्रूलतानि ।।२५।। 25. Or is it that herbs and roots have all disappeared from caves, and streams have gone away from hillsides, or 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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  पुण्यैर्मूलफलैस्तथा प्रणयिनीं वृत्तिं कुरुष्वाधुना     भूशय्यां नवपल्लवैरकृपणैरुत्तिष्ठ यावो वनम् ।   क्षुद्राणामविवेकमूढमनसां यत्रेश्वराणां सदा     वित्तव्याधिविकारविह्वलगिरां नामापि न श्रूयते ।।२६।। 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 प्रतिवनमखेदं क्षितिरुहां     पय: स्थाने स्थाने शिशिरमधुरं पुण्यसरिताम् ।   मृदुस्पर्शा शय्या सुललितलतापल्लवमयी     सहन्ते सन्तापं तदपि धनिनां द्वारि कृपणा: ।।२७।। 27. Though fruits from trees are easily obtainable at will in every forest, though there is cool refreshing drink in holy streams at various places 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 धनपतिपुर: प्रार्थनादु:खभाजो       ये चाल्पत्वं दधति विषयाक्षेपपर्याप्तबुद्धे: ।     तेषामन्त:स्फुरितहसितं वासराणि स्मरेयं       ध्यानच्छेदे शिखरिकुहरग्रावशय्यानिषण्ण: ।।२८।।   28. Reposing on a bed of stone within a mountain cave, during intervals of meditation, (well) may I recollect with an inward smile the days of those afflicted through their petitions 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 वर्तन्ते and वासराणां for वासराणि the idea becomes, in the words of Mr. Telang: ‘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 worldly objects thinks time too short; he 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 refer to days, and for पर्याप्त in line 2 we have to read पर्यस्त too.]
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  ये सन्तोषनिरन्तरप्रमुदितास्तेषां न भिन्ना मुदो     ये त्वन्ये धनलुब्धसंकुलधियस्तेषां न तृष्णा हता ।   इत्थं कस्य कृते कृत: स विधिना कीदृक्पदं संपदां     स्वात्मन्येव समाप्तहेममहिमा मेरुर्न मे रोचते ।।२९।। 29. The felicity of those, whom contentment un­ceasingly makes happy, is not interrupted, while cravings of those of greedy and confounded 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 कृत: 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 never feel satisfied howsoever big might be their acquisitions. स्वात्मन्येव समाप्तहेममहिमा—Its gold serves only to glorify itself, but not to satisfy the greedy.]
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  भिक्षाहारमदैन्यमप्रतिसुखं भीतिच्छिदं सर्वतो     दुर्मात्सर्यमदाभिमानमथनं दु:खौघविध्वंसनम् ।   सर्वत्रान्वहमप्रयत्नसुलभं साधुप्रियं पावनं     शम्भो: सत्रमवार्यमक्षयनिधिं शंसन्ति योगीश्वरा: ।।३०।। 30. The great yogīs 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, foodstores, etc.); it destroys wicked pride, 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 men; it is a purification by itself; it is like the inexhaustible feeding-house of Śiva, access to which none can prevent.
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  भोगे रोगभयं कुले च्युतिभयं वित्ते नृपालाद्भयं     माने दैन्यभयं बले रिपुभयं रूपे जराया भयम् ।   शास्त्रे वादिभयं गुणे खलभयं काये कृतान्ताद्भयं     सर्वं वस्तु भयान्वितं भुवि नृणां वैराग्यमेवाभयम् ।।३१।। 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 enemies; 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 चात्युज्ज्वलं यौवनं     सन्तोषो धनलिप्सया शमसुखं प्रौढाङ्गनाविभ्रमै: ।   लोकैर्मत्सरिभिर्गुणा वनभुवो व्यालैर्नृपा दुर्जनै-     रस्थैर्येण विभूतयोऽप्युपहता ग्रस्तं न किं केन वा ।।३२।। 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 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       लक्ष्मीर्यत्र पतन्ति तत्र विवृतद्वारा इव व्यापद: ।     जातं जातमवश्यमाशु विवशं मृत्यु: करोत्यात्मसा- त्तत्किं तेन निरङ्कुशेन विधिना यन्निमिर्तं सुस्थिरम् ।।३३।।   33. Health of men is destroyed (lit. rooted out) by hundreds of varied ailments of body and mind; wherever there is Lakshmī (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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  भोगास्तुङ्गतरङ्गभङ्गतरला: प्राणा: क्षणध्वंसिन:     स्तोकान्येव दिनानि यौवनसुखस्फूतिर्: प्रियासु स्थिता ।   तत्संसारमसारमेव निखिलं बुद्ध्वा बुधा बोधका     लोकानुग्रहपेशलेन मनसा यत्न: समाधीयताम् ।।३४।। 34. Enjoyments are unstable like the breaking of high billows, life is liable to speedy dissolution; the buoyancy of youthful happiness centred 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 saṁsāra (world).]
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  भोगा मेघवितानमध्य­विलसत्सौदामिनीचञ्चला     आयुर्वायुविघट्टिताब्ज­पटलीलीनाम्बुवद्भङ्गुरम् ।   लोला यौवनलालसास्तनु­भृतामित्याकलय्य द्रुतं   योगे धैर्यसमाधिसिद्धसुलभे बुद्धिं विधद्ध्वं बुधा:।।३५।। 35. Enjoyments of embodied beings are fleeting 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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  आयु: कल्लोललोलं कतिपयदिवसस्थायिनी यौवनश्री-     रर्था: संकल्पकल्पा घनसमयतडिद्विभ्रमा भोगपूगा: ।   कण्ठाश्लेषोपगूढं तदपि च न चिरं यत्प्रियाभि: प्रणीतं     ब्रह्मण्यासक्तचित्ता भवत भवभयाम्भोधिपारं तरीतुम् ।।३६।। 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 lightning during the monsoons; 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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  कृच्छ्रेणामेध्यमध्ये नियमिततनुभि: स्थीयते गर्भवासे     कान्ताविश्लेषदु:खव्यतिकरविषमो यौवने चोपभोग: ।   वामाक्षीणामवज्ञाविहसित­वसतिर्वृद्धभावोऽप्यसाधु:     संसारे रे मनुष्या वदत यदि सुखं स्वल्पमप्यस्ति किंचित् ।।३७।। 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 men, say if there is a particle of happiness in the world. [The idea is that none of the stages of life, beginning from the embryo, are worth living, as they are attended with serious drawbacks.]
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  व्याघ्रीव तिष्ठति जरा परितर्जयन्ती     रोगाश्च शत्रव इव प्रहरन्ति देहम् ।   आयु: परिस्रवति भिन्नघटादिवाम्भो     लोकस्तथाप्यहितमाचरतीति चित्रम् ।।३८।। 38. Old age looms (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 surprising is it, that man goes on doing wicked deeds!
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  भोगा भङ्गुरवृत्तयो बहुविधास्तैरेव चायं भव-     स्तत्कस्येह कृते परिभ्रमत रे लोका: कृतं चेष्टितै: ।   आशापाशशतोपशान्तिविशदं चेत: समाधीयतां     कामोत्पत्तिवशात् स्वधामनि यदि श्रद्धेयमस्मद्वच: ।।३९।। 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. [कामोत्पत्तिवशात् —(We accept this reading as found in the edition we translate from, but we do not follow the meaning given of it by the commentator Budhendra. 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 a 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 uprooting desires.’]
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  ब्रह्मेन्द्रादिमरुद्गणांस्तृणकणान्यत्र स्थितो मन्यते     यत्स्वादाद्विरसा भवन्ति विभवास्त्रैलोक्यराज्यादय: ।   भोग: कोऽपि स एक एव परमो नित्योदितो जृम्भते     भो साधो क्षणभंगुरे तदितरे भोगे रतिं मा कृथा: ।।४०।। 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 Brahmā, Indra, or the gods (i.e., their positions) appear like particles of grass. Do not, oh sādhu, set your heart on any ephemeral enjoyment other than that.
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  सा रम्या नगरी महान्स नृपति: सामन्तचक्रं च त-     त्पार्श्वे तस्य च सा विदग्धपरिषत्ताश्चन्द्रबिम्बानना: ।   उद्वृत्त: स च राजपुत्रनिवहस्ते बन्दिनस्ता: कथा:     सर्वं यस्य वशादगात् स्मृतिपथं कालाय तस्मै नम: ।।४१।। 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 Kāla (time or the principle of change) salutation! [उद्वृत्त: —Another reading is उद्रिक्त, which means ‘haughty’.]
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  यत्रानेक: क्वचिदपि गृहे तत्र तिष्ठत्यथैको     यत्राप्येकस्तदनु बहवस्तत्र नैकोऽपि चान्ते ।   इत्थं नेयौ रजनिदिवसौ लोलयन्द्वाविवाक्षौ     काल: कल्यो भुवनफलके क्रीडति प्राणिशारै: ।।४२।। 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 none at the end (of the game)—this is the process in which expert Kāla 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 गतागतैरहरह: संक्षीयते जीवितं     व्यापारैर्बहुकार्यभारगुरुभि: कालोऽपि न ज्ञायते ।   दृष्ट्वा जन्मजराविपत्तिमरणं त्रासश्च नोत्पद्यते     पीत्वा मोहमयीं प्रमादमदिरामुन्मत्तभूतं जगत् ।।४३।। 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 has become mad by drinking the stupefying wine of delusion.
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  रात्रि: सैव पुन: स एव दिवसो मत्वा मुधा जन्तवो     धावन्त्युद्यमिनस्तथैव निभृतप्रारब्धतत्तत्क्रिया: ।   व्यापारै: पुनरुक्तभूतविषयैरित्थंविधेनामुना     संसारेण कदथिर्ता वयमहो मोहान्न लज्जामहे ।।४४।। 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 agoing secretly, i.e., by individual mental resolves. Alas, through infatuation we do not feel ashamed at being thus befooled by this saṁsāra (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     स्वर्गद्वारकवाटपाटनपटुर्धर्मोऽपि नोपाजिर्त: ।   नारीपीनपयोधरोरुयुगलं स्वप्नेऽपि नालिङ्गितं     मातु: केवलमेव यौवनवनच्छेदे कुठारा वयम् ।।४५।। 45. न ध्यातं etc.—The feet of the Lord have not been medi­tated upon (by me) in due form for the sake of doing away with this saṁsāra or worldly bondage. स्वर्गद्वार etc.—Neither has dharma (merit through performance of religious duties) been earned, such as is strong to knock open the gates of heaven. मातु: 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 प्रतिवादिवृन्ददमनी विद्या विनीतोचिता     खड्गाग्रै: करिकुम्भपीठदलनैर्नाकं न नीतं यश: ।   कान्ताकोमलपल्लवाधररस: पीतो न चन्द्रोदये     तारुण्यं गतमेव निष्फलमहो शून्यालये दीपवत् ।।४६।। 46. नाभ्यस्ता etc.—The proper scholarship for a cultured man, such as enables one to defeat hosts of disputants, has not been acquired. खड्गाग्रै: etc.—By the point of the sword strong to knock down the capacious temples of elephants, fame has not been carried to heaven. तारुण्यं etc.—Useless has youth passed away like a lamp in a deserted house.
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  विद्या नाधिगता कलङ्करहिता वित्तं च नोपाजिर्तं     शुश्रूषापि समाहितेन मनसा पित्रोर्न संपादिता ।   आलोलायतलोचना: प्रियतमा: स्वप्नेऽपि नालिङ्गिता:     कालोऽयं परपिण्डलोलुपतया काकैरिव प्रेर्यते ।।४७।। 47. विद्या नाधिगता etc.—Knowledge free from defect has not been mastered; कलङ्करहिता means ‘free from doctrines incapable of proof.’ वित्तं च etc.—Riches neither have been earned. शुश्रूषापि 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 note. 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 serve his poetical purposes best. This aspirant has had in his youth no 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 (धर्म, religious merit; अर्थ, wealth; काम, fulfilment of desires; and मोक्ष, liberation) has been pursued by him in the past with 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     समं यै: संवृद्धा: स्मृतिविषयतां तेऽपि गमिता: ।   इदानीमेते स्म: प्रतिदिवसमासन्नपतना     गतास्तुल्यावस्थां सिकतिलनदीतीरतरुभि: ।।४८।। 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. [चिरपरिचिता:—a simpler reading is चिरपरिगता:]
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  आयुर्वर्षशतं नृणां परिमितं रात्रौ तदर्धं गतं     तस्यार्धस्य परस्य चार्धमपरं बालत्ववृद्धत्वयो: ।   शेषं व्याधिवियोगदु:खसहितं सेवादिभिर्नीयते     जीवे वारितरङ्गचञ्चलतरे सौख्यं कुत: प्राणिनाम् ।।४९।। 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 कामरसिक:     क्षणं वित्तैर्हीन: क्षणमपि च संपूर्णविभव: ।   जराजीर्णैरङ्गैर्नट इव वलीमण्डिततनु-     र्नर: संसारान्ते विशति यमधानीयवनिकाम् ।।५०।। 50. Now a child for a while and then a youth of erotic ways, a destitute now for a while and then very wealthy, 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 वयमप्युपासित­गुरुप्रज्ञाभिमानोन्नता:       ख्यातस्त्वं विभवैर्यशांसि कवयो दिक्षु प्रतन्वन्ति न: ।     इत्थं मानधनातिदूरमुभयोरप्यावयोरन्तरं       यद्यस्मासु पराङ्मुखोऽसि वयमप्येकान्ततो नि:स्पृहा: ।।५१।।   51. Thou art a king; we too are elevated through self-assurance about our wisdom acquired from our preceptor whom we served. Thou art celebrated through thy possessions; our fame is spread abroad in all quarters by 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 śloka 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 thus—`not much difference, O proud (king)’.]
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  अर्थानामीशिषे त्वं वयमपि च गिरामीश्महे यावदर्थं     शूरस्त्वं वादिदर्पव्युपशमनविधावक्षयं पाटवं न: ।   सेवन्ते त्वां धनाढ्या मतिमलहतये मामपि श्रोतुकामा     मय्यप्यास्था न ते चेत्त्वयि मम नितरामेव राजन्ननास्था ।।५२।। 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. It 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 दुकूलै:     सम इव परितोषो निविर्शेषो विशेष: ।   स तु भवतु दरिद्रो यस्य तृष्णा विशाला     मनसि च परितुष्टे कोऽर्थवान्को दरिद्र: ।।५३।। 53. Here we are satisfied with the bark of trees and thou with rich garments; (and yet) our contentment is alike, (so) the distinction makes no difference. Poor indeed is he whose desires are boundless. If the mind be contended, who is rich and who poor? [One who is satisfied with what little he possesses is as good as the rich.]
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    फलमलमशनाय स्वादु पानाय तोयं क्षितिरपि शयनार्थं वाससे वल्कलं च ।     नवधनमधुपानभ्रान्तसर्वेन्द्रियाणा-       मविनयमनुमन्तुं नोत्सहे दुर्जनानाम् ।।५४।।   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 led astray by drinking the wine of newly acquired wealth.
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  अशीमहि वयं भिक्षामाशावासो वसीमहि ।   शयीमहि महीपृष्ठे कुर्वीमहि किमीश्वरै: ।।५५।। 55. Let us eat the food we have begged; let the sky be our clothing; let 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     न च सभ्येतरवादचुञ्चव: ।   नृपमीक्षितुमत्र के वयं     स्तनभारानमिता न योषित: ।।५६।। 56. Who are we to go to see a king—not dancers, court-jesters, or singers, nor experts in (learned) disputes with others in a court, nor youthful court mistresses! (That is, we have absolutely no business to go to a king.) [The विट is generally a parasite of a prince.]
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  विपुलहृदयैरीशैरेतज्जगज्जनितं पुरा     विधृतमपरैर्दत्तं चान्यैविर्जित्य तृणं यथा ।   इह हि भुवनान्यन्ये धीराश्चतुर्दश भुञ्जते     कतिपयपुरस्वाम्ये पुंसां क एष मदज्वर: ।।५७।। 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 भुवनानि—The fourteen divisions of the world, that is, the entire created universe.]
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  अभुक्तायां यस्यां क्षणमपि न जातं नृपशतै-     र्भुवस्तस्या लाभे क इव बहुमान: क्षितिभृताम् ।   तदंशस्याप्यंशे तदवयवलेशेऽपि पतयो     विषादे कर्तव्ये विदधति जडा: प्रत्युत मुदम् ।।५८।। 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 वलयित: सर्वोऽप्ययं नन्वणु:     स्वांशीकृत्य तमेव संगरशतै राज्ञां गणा भुञ्जते ।   ते दद्युर्ददतोऽथवा किमपरं क्षुद्रा दरिद्रा भृशं     धिग्धिक्तान्पुरुषाधमान्धनकणान् वाञ्छन्ति तेभ्योऽपि ये ।।५९।। 59. It (the earth) is but a lump of clay circled by a ring of water! Even the whole of it is but a particle. Hosts of kings, having partitioned it after fighting hundreds of battles, enjoy it. What is so strange if these very poor insignificant persons may or do give (some parts of it)? But downright shame on those mean fellows who would beg bits of coin from even them ! [May or do give—to indulge in a bit of self-gratification.]
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  स जात: कोऽप्यासीन्मदनरिपुणा मूधि्र्न धवलं     कपालं यस्योच्यैविर्निहितमलंकार­विधये ।   नृभि: प्राणत्राणप्रवणमतिभि: कैश्चिदधुना     नमद्भि: क: पुंसामयमतुलदर्पज्वरभर: ।।६०।। 60. That man is indeed born (truly great) whose white skull (after death) is placed by (Śiva) 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 Śiva is called Kapālī; Kapāla meaning ‘skull’. 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     प्रसादं किं नेतुं विशसि हृदय क्लेशकलितम् ।   प्रसन्ने त्वय्यन्त: स्वयमुदितचिन्तामणिगणो     विविक्त: संकल्प: किमभिलषितं पुष्यति न ते ।।६१।। 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 चिन्तामणिगुण:; 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’. स्वयमुदितचिन्तामणिगुण: would then mean ‘having the virtue of a philosopher’s stone developed of itself in thee’—i.e., प्राप्ति:, one of the eight yogic powers. विविक्त: 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 किं मुधा क्वचन चित्त विश्राम्यतां     स्वयं भवति यद्यथा भवति तत्तथा नान्यथा ।   अतीतमननुस्मरन्नपि च भाव्यसंकल्पय-     न्नतकिर्तसमागमाननुभवामि भोगानहम् ।।६२।। 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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  एतस्माद्विरमेन्द्रियार्थ­गहनादायासकादाश्रय     श्रेयोमार्गमशेषदु:खशमनव्यापारदक्षं क्षणात् ।   स्वात्मीभावमुपैहि संत्यज निजां कल्लोललोलां गतिं     मा भूयो भज भङ्गुरां भवरतिं चेत: प्रसीदाधुना ।।६३।। 63. Desist, O heart, from the troublesome labyrinth of sense-objects; take the 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 Ātman; give up thy stream-like agitated flux; be calm now and never again seek transient worldly attachments.
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  मोहं मार्जय तामुपार्जय रतिं चन्द्रार्धचूडामणौ     चेत: स्वर्गतरङ्गिणीतट­भुवामासङ्गमङ्गीकुरु ।   को वा वीचिषु बुद्बुदेषु च तडिल्लेखासु च श्रीषु च     ज्वालाग्रेषु च पन्नगेषु च सुहृद्वर्गेषु च प्रत्यय: ।।६४।। 64. Clear off delusion and earn devotion to Him whose crown is begemmed with the crescent. Oh my mind, accept attachment to some spot on the banks of the celestial river (Gaṅgā). What reliability is there on waves or bubbles, flashes of lightning or (smiles of) fortune, in tongues of flame, serpents, or hosts of friends?
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  चेतश्चिन्तय मा रमां सकृदिमामस्थायिनीमास्थया     भूपालभ्रुकुटीकुटीविहरणव्यापार­पण्याङ्गनाम् ।   कन्थाकञ्चुकिन: प्रविश्य भवनद्वाराणि वाराणसी—     रथ्यापङ्क्तिषु पाणिपात्रपतितां भिक्षामपेक्षामहे ।।६५।। 65. O my mind, 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 Vārānasi, wait for the alms to be placed in the receptacle of our hands.
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  अग्रे गीतं सरसकवय: पार्श्वयोर्दाक्षिणात्या:     पश्चाल्लीलावलयरणितं चामरग्राहिणीनाम् ।   यद्यस्त्वेवं कुरु भवरसास्वादने लम्पटत्वं     नो चेच्चेत: प्रविश सहसा निविर्कल्पे समाधौ ।।६६।। 66. If there are songs (going on) before you, sweet (skilful) poets from the South by your side and the tinkling of the moving bracelets of female waiters with waving chowries in their hands, then lavishly attach thyself to the enjoyment of worldly happiness. If otherwise, O my mind, then plunge into the absolute type of meditation. [निविर्कल्प समाधि—the deepest concentration losing all sepa­rate consciousness of the knower, the known, and the knowing. चामर is the bushy tail of a yak used as a fan, being one of the insignia of royalty. The argument in this śloka 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 śloka we find that the author is preaching the uselessness of the fulfilment of worldly desires.]
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  प्राप्ता: श्रिय: सकलकामदुघास्तत: किं     न्यस्तं पदं शिरसि विद्विषतां तत: किम् ।   संपादिता: प्रणयिनो विभवैस्तत: किं     कल्पस्थितास्तनुभृतां तनवस्तत: किम् ।।६७।। 67. Though embodied beings may 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     स्नेहो न बन्धुषु न मन्मथजा विकारा: ।   संसर्गदोषरहिता विजना वनान्ता     वैराग्यमस्ति किमित: परमर्थनीयम् ।।६८।। 68. When there is devotion for Śiva, 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     तद्ब्रह्म चिन्तय किमेभिरसद्विकल्पै: ।   यस्यानुषङ्गिण इमे भुवनाधिपत्य-     भोगादय: कृपणलोकमता भवन्ति ।।६९।। 69. What avails all this agitating over the unreal? Meditate, therefore, on that supreme, infinite, 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 विलङ्घ्य दिङ्मण्डलं भ्रमसि मानस चापलेन ।     भ्रान्त्यापि जातु विमलं कथमात्मनीनं       न ब्रह्म संस्मरसि निर्वृतिमेषि येन ।।७०।।   70. Being thus agitated, O mind, thou (now) descendest 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 वेदै: स्मृतिभि: पुराणपठनै: शास्त्रैर्महाविस्तरै:     स्वर्गग्रामकुटीनिवासफलदै: कर्मक्रियाविभ्रमै: ।   मुक्त्वैकं भवदु:खभाररचना­विध्वंसकालानलं     स्वात्मानन्दपदप्रवेशकलनं शेषैर्वणिग्वृत्तिभि: ।।७१।। 71. What are worth the Vedas, the Smṛtis, the readings from the Purānas, the vast śāstras, 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 śāstras, 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 मेरु: श्रीमान्निपतति युगान्ताग्निवलित:     समुद्रा: शुष्यन्ति प्रचुरमकरग्राहनिलया: ।   धरा गच्छत्यन्तं धरणिधरपादैरपि धृता     शरीरे का वार्ता करिकलभकर्णाग्रचपले ।।७२।। 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, which is 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—The cosmic conflagration at the end of a cycle.]
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  गात्रं संकुचितं गतिविर्गलिता भ्रष्टा च दन्तावलि-     र्दृष्टिर्नश्यति वर्धते बधिरता वक्त्रं च लालायते ।   वाक्यं नाद्रियते च बान्धवजनो भार्या न शुश्रूषते     हा कष्टं पुरुषस्य जीर्णवयस: पुत्रोऽप्यमित्रायते ।।७३।। 73. (In old age) the body becomes shrivelled, the gait becomes unsteady, the teeth fall out, the eye-sight is lost, deafness increases, the mouth 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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  वर्णं सितं झटिति वीक्ष्य शिरोरुहाणां     स्थानं जरापरिभवस्य तदा पुमांसम् ।   आरोपितास्थिशतकं परिहृत्य यान्ति     चण्डालकूपमिव दूरतरं तरुण्य: ।।७४।। 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 Chandāla’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 Chandālas to line their well with bones for ornamentation.]
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  यावत्स्वस्थमिदं शरीरमरुजं यावज्जरा दूरतो     यावच्चेन्द्रियशक्तिरप्रतिहता यावत्क्षयो नायुष: ।   आत्मश्रेयसि तावदेव विदुषा कार्य: प्रयत्नो महान्     संदीप्ते भवने तु कूपखननं प्रत्युद्यम: कीदृश: ।।७५।। 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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  तपस्यन्त: सन्त: किमधिनिवसाम: सुरनदीं     गुणोदारान्दारानुत परिचराम: सविनयम् ।   पिबाम: शास्त्रौघानुत विविधकाव्यामृतरसा-     न्न विद्म: किं कुर्म: कतिपयनिमेषायुषि जने ।।७६।। 76. Shall we live by the celestial river practising 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 twinklings of the eye, we do not know which (of these) to undertake!
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  दुराराध्याश्चामी तुरगचलचित्ता: क्षितिभुजो     वयं च स्थूलेच्छा: सुमहति फले बद्धमनस: ।   जरा देहं मृत्युर्हरति दयितं जीवितमिदं     सखे नान्यच्छ्रेयो जगति विदुषोऽन्यत्र तपस: ।।७७।। 77. These rulers of the world have minds restless like a horse and (therefore) are 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 म्लायिनि खण्डिते च वसुनि व्यर्थे प्रयातेऽथिर्नि     क्षीणे बन्धुजने गते परिजने नष्टे शनैर्यौवने ।   युक्तं केवलमेतदेव सुधियां यज्जह्नुकन्यापय:-     पूतग्रावगिरीन्द्रकन्दरतटीकुञ्जे निवास: क्वचित् ।।७८।। 78. When honour has faded, wealth has become ruined, those who sue for favours have departed 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 Gaṅgā. [जह्नुकन्या—The Gaṅgā is so called on account of the myth that ṛṣi Jahnu drank it up and then disgorged it through his ear or thigh, when in its course towards the Bay of Bengal after its descent from the heavens it overflowed the sacrificial platform of the ṛṣi. Examination of the traditional place where the ṛṣi 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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  रम्याश्चन्द्रमरीचयस्तृणवती रम्या वनान्त:स्थली     रम्यं साधुसमागमागतसुखं काव्येषु रम्या: कथा: ।   कोपोपाहितबाष्पबिन्दुतरलं रम्यं प्रियाया मुखं     सर्वं रम्यमनित्यतामुपगते चित्ते न किञ्चित्पुन: ।।७९।। 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 हर्म्यतलं न किं वसतये श्रव्यं न गेयादिकं     किं वा प्राणसमासमागमसुखं नैवाधिकप्रीतये ।   किंतु भ्रान्तपतङ्गपक्षपवनव्यालोल­दीपाङ्कुर-     च्छायाचञ्चलमाकलय्य सकलं सन्तो वनान्तं गता: ।।८०।। 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 means ‘hovering’.]
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  आसंसारात्त्रिभुवनमिदं चिन्वतां तात तादृ-     ङ्नैवास्माकं नयनपदवीं श्रोत्रमार्गं गतो वा ।   योऽयं धत्ते विषयकरिणीगाढगूढाभिमान-     क्षीबस्यान्त:करणकरिण: संयमानायलीलाम् ।।८१।। 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 infatuation for the female elephant of sense-object. [आनाय is an elephant-trap. Another reading is आलान which means ‘a tying post for an elephant’. क्षीबस्य—‘of the maddened’.]
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  यदेतत्स्वच्छन्दं विहरणमकार्पण्यमशनं     सहार्यै: संवास: श्रुतमुपशमैकव्रतफलम् ।   मनो मन्दस्पन्दं बहिरपि चिरस्यापि विमृश-     न्न जाने कस्यैषा परिणतिरुदारस्य तपस: ।।८२।। 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! [उपशम 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, श्रुतम् 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     हन्ताङ्गेषु गुणाश्च वन्ध्यफलतां याता गुणज्ञैविर्ना ।   किं युक्तं सहसाभ्युपैति बलवान्काल: कृतान्तोऽक्षमी     हा ज्ञातं मदनान्तकाङ्घ्रियुगलं मुक्त्वास्ति नान्या गति: ।।८३।। 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 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—Śiva is so called in allusion to His having turned the god Cupid to ashes on the eve of His marriage with Gaurī.]
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  महेश्वरे वा जगतामधीश्वरे     जनार्दने वा जगदन्तरात्मनि ।   न वस्तुभेदप्रतिपत्तिरस्ति मे     तथापि भक्तिस्तरुणेन्दुशेखरे ।।८४।। 84. I make no difference in substance between Śiva, the Lord of the universe and Viṣṇu, the inmost Self of the universe. But still my devotion is (attached) to the One in whose crest there is the crescent moon. [This śloka has been brought forward by the poet as a doubt may arise in the mind from the preceding śloka where the poet says that Śiva is the only Lord to take refuge in. Here the poet says that really there is no difference between Śiva and Viṣṇu, but he is by nature attached to Śiva. This is what is called Iṣtaniṣṭā, or the devotion to one’s own ideal. The word जनार्दन 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 the Janas’ (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 it may mean, (4) ‘in whose Self is the whole universe’.]
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  स्फुरत्स्फारज्योत्स्नाधवलिततले क्वापि पुलिने     सुखासीना: शान्तध्वनिषु रजनीषु द्युसरित: ।   भवाभोगोद्विग्ना: शिव शिव शिवेत्युच्चवचस:     कदा यास्यामोऽन्तर्गतबहुल­बाष्पाकुलदशाम् ।।८५।। 85. Sitting in a peaceful posture, during nights when all sounds are stilled into silence, somewhere on the banks of the heavenly river which shines with the white glow of the bright-diffused moonlight, and fearful of the miseries of birth and death, crying aloud ‘Śiva, Śiva, Śiva,’ ah! when shall we attain that ecstasy which is characterized by copious tears of joy held in internal control! [The last line also reads differently—कदा स्यामानन्दोद्गत­बहुलबाष्पाकुलदृश:—‘When shall we have our eyes filled with copious tears arising out of joy?’]
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  वितीर्णे सर्वस्वे तरुणकरुणापूर्णहृदया:     स्मरन्त: संसारे विगुणपरिणामां विधिगतिम् ।   वयं पुण्यारण्ये परिणतशरच्चन्द्रकिरणा-     स्त्रियामा नेष्यामो हरचरणचिन्तैकशरणा: ।।८६।। 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., Śiva), 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-     न्वसान: कौपीनं शिरसि निदधानोऽञ्जलिपुटम् ।   अये गौरीनाथ त्रिपुरहर शम्भो त्रिनयन     प्रसीदेत्याक्रोशन्निमिषमिव नेष्यामि दिवसान् ।।८७।। 87. When shall I pass the days like a moment, residing on the banks of the celestial river in Vārānasi, clad in a kaupīna (loin-cloth) and with folded hands raised to the forehead, crying out— ‘Oh Lord of Gaurī, the Slayer of Tripura, the Giver of all good, the Three-eyed, have mercy!’
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  स्नात्वा गाङ्गै: पयोभि: शुचिकुसुमफलैरर्चयित्वा विभो त्वां       ध्येये ध्यानं निवेश्य क्षितिधरकुहरग्रावपर्यङ्कमूले ।   आत्माराम: फलाशी गुरुवचनरतस्त्वत्प्रसादात्स्मरारे     दु:खं मोक्ष्ये कदाहं समकरचरणे पुंसि सेवासमुत्थम् ।।८८।। 88. Having bathed in the waters of the Gaṅgā 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 नि:स्पृह: शान्त: पाणिपात्रो दिगम्बर: ।   कदा शम्भो भविष्यामि कर्मनिर्मूलनक्षम: ।।८९।। 89. O Śiva, 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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  पाणिं पात्रयतां निसर्गशुचिना भैक्षेण संतुष्यतां     यत्र क्वापि निषीदतां बहुतृणं विश्वं मुहु: पश्यताम् ।   अत्यागेऽपि तनोरखण्डपरमानन्दावबोधस्पृशा-     मध्वा कोऽपि शिवप्रसादसुलभ: संपत्स्यते योगिनाम् ।।९०।। 90. Those who have only their hand to eat 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 yogīs indeed the path which is easy of access by Śiva’s grace becomes attainable. (The path, that is to say, of mokṣa or supreme liberation.)
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  कौपीनं शतखण्डजर्जरतरं कन्था पुनस्तादृशी     नैश्चिन्त्यं निरपेक्षभैक्षमशनं निद्रा श्मशाने वने ।   स्वातन्त्र्येण निरङ्कुशं विहरणं स्वान्तं प्रशान्तं सदा     स्थैर्यं योगमहोत्सवेऽपि च यदि त्रैलोक्यराज्येन किम् ।।९१।। 91. If there is a kaupīna (even) worn out and shredded a hundred times and a wrapper also of the same condition, if one is free from all disquieting thought, if food there is, obtained unconditionally from begging, and sleep on a cremation 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 मनस्विन: ।   शफरीस्फुरितेनाब्धि: क्षुब्धो न खलु जायते ।।९२।। 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 pure 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 importance to the wise man.]
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  मातर्लक्ष्मि भजस्व कंचिदपरं मत्काङ्क्षिणी मा स्म भू-     र्भोगेषु स्पृहयालवस्तव वशे का नि:स्पृहाणामसि ।   सद्य:स्यूतपलाशपत्रपुटिकापात्रे पवित्रीकृतै-     भिर्क्षावस्तुभिरेव संप्रति वयं वृत्तिं समीहामहे ।।९३।। 93. O Mother Lakshmī (Goddess of wealth), serve (thou) someone else; do not long for me. Those who desire enjoyment are subject to thee, but what art thou to us who are free from desires? Now we wish to live upon food articles obtained from begging and placed, (con­formably to its) being sanctified, in a receptacle of palāśa leaves pieced together on the spot. [The palāśa vessels are enjoined in the Smṛtis as purifying the food kept in them.]
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  महाशय्या पृथ्वी विपुलमुपधानं भुजलता     वितानं चाकाशं व्यजनमनुकूलोऽयमनिल: ।   शरच्चन्द्रो दीपो विरतिवनितासङ्गमुदित:     सुखी शान्त: शेते मुनिरतनुभूतिर्नृप इव ।।९४।। 94. The earth is his vast bed, the arms his 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, the sage lies down happily and peacefully, like a monarch of undiminished glory.
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  भिक्षाशी जनमध्यसङ्गरहित: स्वायत्तचेष्ट: सदा     हानादानविरक्तमार्गनिरत: कश्चित्तपस्वी स्थित: ।   रथ्याकीर्णविशीर्णजीर्णवसन: संप्राप्तकन्थासनो     निर्मानो निरहंकृति: शमसुखाभोगैकबद्धस्पृह: ।।९५।। 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 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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  चण्डाल: किमयं द्विजातिरथवा शूद्रोऽथ किं तापस:     किं वा तत्त्वविवेकपेशलमतिर्योगीश्वर: कोऽपि किम् ।   इत्युत्पन्नविकल्पजल्पमुखरैराभाष्यमाणा जनै-     र्न क्रुद्धा: पथि नैव तुष्टमनसो यान्ति स्वयं योगिन: ।।९६।। 96. When accosted by people who loquaciously express doubt and surmise, such as, ‘Is he a Chandāla , or a twice born, or a Śūdra, or an ascetic, or perhaps some supreme yogī with his mind full of the discrimination of Reality,’ the yogīs themselves go their way, neither pleased nor displeased in mind. [The Chandāla is accursed beyond the pale of the four castes, while the Śūdra belongs to the fourth caste. The Brāhmana, Kṣatriya, and Vaiśya form the three twice-born castes.]
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  हिंसाशून्यमयत्नलभ्यमशनं धात्रा मरुत्कल्पितं     व्यालानां पशवस्तृणाङ्कुरभुजस्तुष्टा: स्थलीशायिन: ।   संसारार्णवलङ्घनक्षमधियां वृत्ति: कृता सा नृणां   तामन्वेषयतां प्रयान्ति सततं सर्वे समाप्तिं गुणा: ।।९७।। 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 guṇas invariably brought to their final dissolution. [When the guṇas—sattva, rajas, and tamas—are finally reduced to the inactivity of equipoise, the yogī reaches beyond māyā. 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     ब्रह्मध्यानाभ्यसनविधिना योगनिद्रां गतस्य ।   किं तैर्भाव्यं मम सुदिवसैर्यत्र ते निविर्शङ्का:   कण्डूयन्ते जरठहरिणा: स्वाङ्गमङ्गे मदीये ।।९८।। 98. Will those happy days come to me when on the bank of the Gaṅgā, sitting in the lotus-posture on a piece of stone in the Himalayas, I shall fall into the yoga-nidrā (i.e., lose all consciousness in samādhi 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! [पद्मासनम्— lit. lotus-seat; sitting cross-legged so that the soles of the feet protrude above along the thighs.]
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  पाणि: पात्रं पवित्रं भ्रमणपरिगतं भैक्षमक्षय्यमन्नं     विस्तीर्णं वस्त्रमाशादशकमचपलं तल्पमस्वल्पमुर्वी ।   येषां नि:सङ्गताङ्गीकरण­परिणतस्वान्त­संतोषिणस्ते     धन्या: संन्यस्तदैन्यव्यतिकरनिकरा: कर्म निर्मूलयन्ति ।।९९।। 99. With the hand serving as sacred cup, 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 chain of cause and effect which grows on as action and desire in life follow each other). [दैन्यव्यतिकरनिकरा:—we prefer to take as: ‘the many forms of contact with the world which result from the poverty of an attitude of seeking worldly objects’.]
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  मातर्मेदिनि तात मारुत सखे तेज: सुबन्धो जल     भ्रातर्व्योम निबद्ध एव भवतामन्त्य: प्रणामाञ्जलि: ।   युष्मत्सङ्गवशोपजातसुकृतस्फार­स्फुरन्निर्मल-     ज्ञानापास्तसमस्तमोहमहिमा लीये परब्रह्मणि ।।१००।। 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 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 yogī has been carried through those subtle tattvas or essences of the five elements which characterize intermediate stages of yogic practice.]
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