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Book 1 - Vairagya Prakaranam

Chapter 23 — The Vicissitudes of Time

1. श्रीराम उवाच ।
विकल्पकल्पनानल्पजल्पितैरल्पबुद्धिभिः ।
भेदैरुद्धुरतां नीतः संसारकुहरे भ्रमः ॥ १ ॥
Men of little understandings are found to fall into grave errors in this pit of the world, by their much idle talk, ever doubting scepticism, and schisms.
2. सतां कथमिवास्थेह जायते जालपञ्जरे ।
बाला एवात्तुमिच्छन्ति फलं मुकुरबिम्बितम् ॥ २ ॥
Good people can have no more confidence in the net work of their ribs, than little children may have a liking for fruits reflected in a mirror.
3. इहापि विद्यते येषां पेलवा सुखभावना ।
आखुस्तन्तुमिवाशेषं कालस्तामपि कृन्तति ॥ ३ ॥
Time is a rat that cuts off the threads of all thoughts (prospects), which men may entertain here about the contemptible pleasures of this world.
4. न तदस्तीह यदयं कालः सकलघस्मरः ।
ग्रसते तज्जगज्जातं प्रोत्थाब्धिमिव वाडवः ॥ ४ ॥
There is nothing in this world which the all-devouring time will spare. He devours all things as the submarine fire consumes the over-flowing sea.
5. समस्तसामान्यतया भीमः कालो महेश्वरः ।
दृश्यसत्तामिमां सर्वां कवलीकर्तुमुद्यतः ॥ ५ ॥
Time is the sovreign lord of all, and equally terrible to all things. He is ever ready to devour all visible beings.
6. महतामपि नो देवः प्रतिपालयति क्षणम् ।
कालः कवलितानन्तविश्वो विश्वात्मतां गतः ॥ ६ ॥
Time as master of all, spares not even the greatest of us for a moment. He swallows the universe within himself, whence he is known as the universal soul.
7. युगवत्सरकल्पाख्यैः किंचित्प्रकटतां गतः ।
रूपैरलक्ष्यरूपात्मा सर्वमाक्रम्य तिष्ठति ॥ ७ ॥
Time pervades all things, but has no perceptible feature of his own, except that he is imperfectly known by the names of years, ages and kalpas.
8. ये रम्या ये शुभारम्भाः सुमेरुगुरवोऽपि ये ।
कालेन विनिगीर्णास्ते गरुडेनेव पन्नगाः ॥ ८ ॥
All that was fair and good, and as great as the mount of Meru, have gone down in the womb of eternity, as the snakes are gorged by the greedy Garuda.
9. निर्दयः कठिनः क्रूरः कर्कशः कृपणोऽधमः ।
न तदस्ति यदद्यापि न कालो निगिरत्ययम् ॥ ९ ॥
There was no one ever so unkind, hard-hearted, cruel, harsh or miserly, whom time has not devoured.
10. कालः कवलनैकान्तमतिरत्ति गिरन्नपि ।
अनन्तैरपि लोकौघैर्नायं तृप्तो महाशनः ॥ १० ॥
Time is ever greedy although he should devour the mountains. This great gourmand (a glutton) is not satiated with gorging every thing in all the worlds.
11. हरत्ययं नाशयति करोत्यत्ति निहन्ति च ।
कालः संसारनृत्तं हि नानारूपं यथा नटः ॥ ११ ॥
Time like an actor plays many parts on the stage of the world. He abstracts and kills, produces and devours and at last destroys every thing.
12. भिनत्ति प्रविभागस्थभूतबीजान्यनारतम् ।
जगत्यसत्तया बन्धाद्दाडिमानि यथा शुकः ॥ १२ ॥
Time is incessantly picking up the seeds of all the four kinds of living beings from this unreal world, as a parrot picks up the seeds from under the cracked shell of a pomegranate. (Viz. the oviparous, viviparous, vegetables and the ephemerids).
13. शुभाशुभविषाणाग्रविलूनजनपल्लवः ।
स्फूर्जति स्फीतजनताजीवराजीवनीगजः ॥ १३ ॥
Time like a wild elephant uproots all proud living beings in this world, as the other pulls up the trees of the forest with their tusks.
14. विरिञ्चिमूलब्रह्माण्डबृहद्देवफलद्रुमम् ।
ब्रह्मकाननमाभोगि परमावृत्य तिष्ठति ॥ १४ ॥
This creation of God is like a forest, having Brahma for its foundation and its trees full of the great fruits of gods. Time commands it throughout its length and breadth.
15. यामिनी भ्रमरापूर्णा रचयन्दिनमञ्जरीः ।
वर्षकल्पकलावल्लीर्न कदाचन खिद्यते ॥ १५ ॥
Time glides along incessantly as a creeping plant, composed of years and ages as its parts, and the sable nights as black bees chasing after them.
16. भिद्यते नावभग्नोऽपि दग्धोऽपि हि न दह्यते ।
दृश्यते नापि दृश्योऽपि धूर्तचूडामणिर्मुने ॥ १६ ॥
Time, O sage, is the subtlest of all things. It is divided though indivisible, it is consumed though incombustible, it is perceived though imperceptible in its nature.
17. एकेनैव निमेषेण किंचिदुत्थापयत्यलम् ।
किंचिद्विनाशयत्युच्चैर्मनोराज्यवदाततः ॥ १७ ॥
Time like the mind is strong enough to create and demolish any thing in a trice, and its province is equally extensive with it.
18. दुर्विलासविलासिन्या चेष्टया कष्टषुष्टया ।
द्रव्यैकरूपकृद्रूपं जनमावर्तयन्स्थितः ॥ १८ ॥
Time is a whirlpool to men; and being accompanied with desire his insatiable and ungovernable mistress and delighting in illicit enjoyments, he makes them do and undo the same thing over and over again.
19. तृणं पांसुं महेन्द्रं च सुमेरुं पर्णमर्णवम् ।
आत्मंभरितया सर्वमात्मसात्कर्तुमुद्यतः ॥ १९ ॥
Time is prompted by his rapacity to appropriate every thing to himself, from the meanest straw, dust, leaves and worms, to the greatest Indra and the mount Meru itself.
20. क्रौर्यमत्रैव पर्याप्तं लुब्धतात्रैव संस्थिता ।
सर्वदौर्भाग्यमत्रैव चापलं वापि दुःसहम् ॥ २० ॥
Time is the source of all malice and greediness, and the spring of all misfortunes, and intolerable fluctuations of our states.
21. प्रेरयँल्लीलयार्केन्दू क्रीडतीव नभस्तले ।
निक्षिप्तलीलायुगलो निजे बाल इवाङ्गणे ॥ २१ ॥
As boys with their balls play about their play-ground, so does time in his arena of the sky, play with his two balls of the sun and moon.
22. सर्वभूतास्थिमालाभिरापादवलिताकृतिः ।
विलसत्येव कल्पान्ते कालः कलितकल्पनः ॥ २२ ॥
Time at the expiration of the kalpa age, will dance about with a long chain of the bones of the dead hanging from his neck to the feet.
23. अस्योड्डामरवृत्तस्य कल्पान्तेऽङ्गविनिर्गतैः ।
प्रस्फुरत्यम्बरे मेरुर्भूर्जत्वगिव वायुभिः ॥ २३ ॥
The gale of desolation rising from the body of this desolator of the world at the end of a kalpa age, causes the fragments of mount Meru to fly about in the air like the rinds of the bhoja-petera tree.
24. रुद्रो भूत्वा भवत्येष महेन्द्रोऽथ पितामहः ।
शक्रो वैश्रवणश्चापि पुनरेव न किंचन ॥ २४ ॥
Time then assumes his terrific form of fire ([Sanskrit: pralayaagni]), to dissolve the world in empty space, when the gods Brahma and Indra and all others cease to exist.
25. धत्तेऽजस्रोत्थितोद्ध्वस्तान्सर्गानमितभास्वरान् ।
अन्यान्दधद्दिवानक्तं वीचीरब्धिरिवात्मनि ॥ २५ ॥
As the sea shows himself in a continued series of waves rising and falling one after another, so it is time that creates and dissolves the world, and appears to rise and fall in the rotation of days and nights.
26. महाकल्पाभिधानेभ्यो वृक्षेभ्यः परिशातयन् ।
देवासुरगणान्पक्वान्फलभारानिव स्थितः ॥ २६ ॥
Time plucks the gods and demigods as ripe fruits, from their great arbor of existence, at the end of the world, (to make them his food).
27. कालोऽयं भूतमशकघुंघुमानां प्रपातिनाम् ।
ब्रह्माण्डोदुम्बरौघानां बृहत्पादपतां गतः ॥ २७ ॥
Time resembles a large fig tree, studded with all the worlds as its fruits, and resonant with the noise of living beings like the hissing of gnats about them.
28. सत्तामात्रकुमुद्वत्या चिज्ज्योत्स्नापरिफुल्लया ।
वपुर्विनोदयत्येकं क्रियाप्रियतमान्वितः ॥ २८ ॥
Time accompanied by Action as his mate, regales himself in the garden of the world, blossoming with the moon-beams of the Divine Spirit.
29. अनन्तापारपर्यन्तबद्धपीठं निजं वपुः ।
महाशैलवदुत्तुङ्गमवलम्ब्य व्यवस्थितः ॥ २९ ॥
As the high and huge rock supports its body upon the basis of the earth, so does time rest itself in endless and interminable eternity.
30. क्वचिच्छयामतमःश्यामं क्वचित्कान्तियुतं ततम् ।
द्वयेनापि क्वचिद्रिक्तं स्वभावं भावयन् स्थितः ॥ ३० ॥
Time assumes to himself various hues of black, white and red (at night, day and midday) which serve for his vestures.
31. संलीनासंख्यसंसारसारया स्वात्मसत्तया ।
उर्व्येव भारघनया निबद्धपदतां गतः ॥ ३१ ॥
As the earth is the great support of hills which are fixed upon it, so is time the support of all the innumerable ponderous worlds that constitute the universe.
32. न खिद्यते नाद्रियते नायाति न च गच्छति ।
नास्तमेति न चोदेति महाकल्पशतैरपि ॥ ३२ ॥
Hundreds of great kalpa ages (of the creation and dissolution of the world) may pass away, yet there is nothing that can move eternity to pity or concern, or stop or expedite his course. It neither sets nor rises (as time).
33. केवलं जगदारम्भलीलया घनहेलया ।
पालयत्यात्मनात्मानमनहंकारमाततम् ॥ ३३ ॥
Time is never proud to think, that it is he who without the least sense of pain and labor, brings this world into play and makes it to exist.
34. यामिनीपङ्ककलितां दिनकोकनदावलीम् ।
मेघभ्रमरिकामात्मसरस्यारोपयन्स्थितः ॥ ३४ ॥
Time is like a reservoir in which the nights are as mud, the days as lotuses, and the clouds as bees.
35. गृहीत्वा कृपणः कृष्णां रजनीं जीर्णमार्जनीम् ।
आलोककनकक्षोदानाहरत्यभितो गिरिम् ॥ ३५ ॥
As a covetous man, with worn out broom sticks in hand, sweeps over a mountain to gather the particles of gold strewn over it, so does time with his sweeping course of days and nights, collect in one mass of the dead all living beings in the world.
36. संचारयन्क्रियाङ्गुल्या कोणकेष्वर्कदीपिकाम् ।
जगत्सद्मनि कार्पण्यात्क्व किमस्तीति वीक्षते ॥ ३६ ॥
As a miserly man trims and lights a lamp with his own fingers, to look into his stores at each corner of the room; so does time light the lamps of the sun and moon to look into the living beings in every nook and corner of the world.
37. प्रेक्ष्याहर्विनिमेषेण सूर्याक्ष्णा पाकवन्त्यलम् ।
लोकपालफलान्यत्ति जगज्जीर्णवनादयम् ॥ ३७ ॥
As one ripens the raw fruits in sun and fire in order to devour them, so does time ripen men by their sun and fire worship, to bring them under his jaws at last.
38. जगज्जीर्णकुटीकीर्णानर्पयत्युग्रकोटरे ।
क्रमेण गुणवल्लोकमणीन्मृत्युसमुद्गके ॥ ३८ ॥
The world is a dilapidated cottage and men of parts are rare gems in it. Time hides them in the casket of his belly, as a miser keeps his treasure in a coffer.
39. गुणैरापूर्यते यैव लोकरत्नावली भृशम् ।
भूषार्थमिव तामङ्गे कृत्वा भूयो निकृन्तति ॥ ३९ ॥
Good men are like a chaplet of gems, which time puts on his head for a time with fondness, and then tears and tramples it down (under his feet).
40. दिनहंसानुसृतया निशेन्दीवरमालया ।
तारकेसरयाजस्रं चपलो वलयत्यलम् ॥ ४० ॥
Strings of days, nights and stars, resembling beads and bracelets of white and black lotuses, are continually turning round the arm of time.
41. शैलार्णद्युधराशृङ्गजगदूर्णायुसौनिकः ।
प्रत्यहं पिबते प्रेक्ष्य तारारक्तकणानपि ॥ ४१ ॥
Time as a vulture looks upon the world as the carcass of a ram, with its mountains, seas, sky and earth as its four horns, and the stars as its drops of blood which it drinks day by day.
42. तारुण्यनलिनीसोम आयुर्मातङ्गकेसरी ।
न तदस्ति न यस्यायं तुच्छातुच्छस्य तस्करः ॥ ४२ ॥
Time destroys youth as the moon shuts the petals of the lotus. It destroys life as the lion kills the elephant: there is nothing however insignificant that time steals not.
43. कल्पकेलिविलासेन पिष्टपातितजन्तुना ।
अभावो भावभासेन रमते स्वात्मनात्मनि ॥ ४३ ॥
Time after sporting for a Kalpa period in the act of killing and crushing of all living beings, comes to lose its own existence and becomes extinct in the eternity of the Spirit of spirits.
44. कर्ता भोक्ताथ संहर्ता स्मर्ता सर्वपदं गतः ।। ४४
Time after a short rest and respite reappears as the creator, preserver, destroyer and remembrancer of all. He shows the shapes of all things whether good or bad, keeping his own nature beyond the knowledge of all. Thus doth time expand and preserve and finally dissolve all things by way of sport.
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