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Book 1 - Vairagya Prakaranam

Chapter 29 — Unreliability of Worldly Things

1. श्रीराम उवाच ।
इति मे दोषदावाग्निदग्धे महति चेतसि ।
प्रस्फुरन्ति न भोगाशा मृगतृष्णाः सरःस्विव ॥ १ ॥
Thus is my heart consumed by the wild-fire of those great worldly evils, and there rises in me no desire of enjoying them, as there rises no mirage from a lake.
2. प्रत्यहं याति कटुतामेषा संसारसंस्थितिः ।
कालपाकवशाल्लोला रसा निम्बलता यथा ॥ २ ॥
My existence upon earth gets bitter day by day, and though I have got some experience in it, yet its associations have made me as sour as the Nimba plant by its immersion in water.
3. वृद्धिमायाति दौर्जन्यं सौजन्यं याति तानवम् ।
करञ्जकर्कशे राजन्प्रत्यहं जनचेतसि ॥ ३ ॥
I see wickedness on the increase, and righteousness on the decline in the mind of man, which like the sour Karanja (crab) fruit, becomes sourer every day.
4. भज्यते भुवि मर्यादा झटित्येव दिनं प्रति ।
शुष्केव माषशिम्बीका टङ्कारकरवं विना ॥ ४ ॥
I see honour is eaten up every day by mutual altercations of men, using harsh words to each other as they crack the nuts under their teeth.
5. राज्येभ्यो भोगपूगेभ्यश्चिन्तावद्भ्यो मुनीश्वर ।
निरस्तचिन्ताकलिता वरमेकान्तशीलता ॥ ५ ॥
Too much eagerness for royalty and worldly enjoyments, is equally prejudicial to our welfare; as we loose our future prospects by the former, and our present happiness by the latter.
6. नानन्दाय ममोद्यानं न सुखाय मम स्त्रियः ।
न हर्षाय ममार्थाशा शाम्यामि मनसा सह ॥ ६ ॥
I take no delight in my gardens nor have any pleasure in women; I feel no joy at the prospect of riches, but enjoy my solace in my own heart and mind.
7. अनित्यश्चासुखो लोकस्तृष्णा तात दुरुद्वहा ।
चापलोपहतं चेतः कथं यास्यामि निर्वृतिम् ॥ ७ ॥
Frail are the pleasures of the world, and avarice is altogether intolerable; the bustle of business has broken down my heart, and (I know not) where to have my tranquility.
8. नाभिनन्दामि मरणं नाभिनन्दामि जीवितम् ।
यथा तिष्ठामि तिष्ठामि तथैव विगतज्वरम् ॥ ८ ॥
Neither do I hail death nor am I in love with my life; but remain as I do, devoid of all anxiety and care.
9. किं मे राज्येन किं भोगैः किमर्थेन किमीहितैः ।
अहंकारवशादेतत्स एव गलितो मम ॥ ९ ॥
What have I to do with a kingdom and with all its enjoyments? Of what avail are riches to me, and what is the end of all our exertions? All these are but requirements of self-love, from which I am entirely free.
10. जन्मावलिवरत्रायामिन्द्रियग्रन्थयो दृढाः ।
ये बद्धास्तद्विमोक्षार्थं यतन्ते ये त उत्तमाः ॥ १० ॥
The chain of (repeated) births is a bond that binds fast all men by its strong knots of the senses; those striving to break loose from this bondage for their liberation, are (said to be) the best of men.
11. मथितं मानिनीलोकैर्मनो मकरकेतुना ।
कोमलं खुरनिष्पेषैः कमलं करिणा यथा ॥ ११ ॥
These haughty damsels whom the god of love employs to ravage the hearts of men, resemble a group of elephants subverting a lotus bed under their feet.
12. अद्य चेत्स्वच्छया बुद्ध्या मुनीन्द्र न चिकित्स्यते ।
भूयश्चित्तचिकित्सायास्तत्किलावसरः कुतः ॥ १२ ॥
The treatment of the mind with pure reason being neglected now (in youth), it is hard to heal it afterwards (in age), when it admits of no cure.
13. विषं विषयवैषम्यं न विषं विषमुच्यते ।
जन्मान्तरघ्ना विषया एकदेहहरं विषम् ॥ १३ ॥
It is the worldliness of man that is his true poison, while real poison is no poison to him. It is the poison of worldliness which destroys his future life, while real poison is only locally injurious to him (in his present state).
14. न सुखानि न दुःखानि न मित्राणि न बान्धवाः ।
न जीवितं न मरणं बन्धाय ज्ञस्य चेतसः ॥ १४ ॥
Neither pleasure nor pain, nor friends nor relatives, nor even life and death, can enchain (affect) the mind that has received the light of truth.
15. तद्भवामि यथा ब्रह्मन्पूर्वापरविदां वर ।
वीतशोकभयायासो ज्ञस्तथोपदिशाशु मे ॥ १५ ॥
Teach me, Oh Brahman! that art the best of the learned in the mysteries of the past and future, teach me so that I may soon become like one devoid of grief and fear and worldly troubles, and may have the light of truth beaming upon me.
16. वासनाजालवलिता दुःखकण्टकसंकुला ।
निपातोत्पातबहुला भीमरूपाऽज्ञताटवी ॥ १६ ॥
The forest of ignorance is laid over with the snare of desire, it is full of the thorns of misery, and is the dreadful seat of destruction and the danger (of repeated births and deaths).
17. क्रकचाग्रविनिष्पेषं सोढुं शक्नोम्यहं मुने ।
संसारव्यवहारोत्थं नाशाविषयवैशसम् ॥ १७ ॥
I can rather suffer myself to be put under the jaws of death with his rows of teeth like saws, but cannot bear the dreadly pains of worldly cares and anxieties.
18. इदं नास्तीदमस्तीति व्यवहाराञ्जनभ्रमः ।
धुनोतीदं चलं चेतो रजोराशिमिवानिलः ॥ १८ ॥
It is a gloomy error in this world to think that I have this and have not the other; it serves to toss about our minds as a gust of wind disperses the dust of the earth.
19. तृष्णातन्तुलवप्रोतं जीवसंचयमौक्तिकम् ।
चिदच्छाङ्गतया नित्यं विकसच्चित्तनायकम् ॥ १९ ॥
It is the thread of avarice that links together all living beings like a chaplet of pearls; the mind serves to twirl about this chain, but pure consciousness sits quiet to observe its rotation.
20. संसारहारमरतिः कालव्यालविभूषणम् ।
त्रोटयाम्यहमक्रूरं वागुरामिव केसरी ॥ २० ॥
I who am devoid of desires, would like to break this ornamental chain of worldliness, hanging about me as a deadly serpent, in the same manner, as a lion breaks asunder the net (which is laid to ensnare him).
21. नीहारं हृदयाटव्यां मनस्तिमिरमाशु मे ।
केन विज्ञानदीपेन भिन्धि तत्त्वविदांवर ॥ २१ ॥
Do you now, O most learned sage, scatter the mist which has overspread the forest of my heart, and the darkness which has overcast my mind, by the light of true knowledge.
22. विद्यन्त एवेह न ते महात्मन् दुराधयो न क्षयमाप्नुवन्ति ।
ये सङ्गमेनोत्तममानसानां निशातमांसीव निशाकरेण ॥ २२ ॥
There are no anxieties, O sage! which cannot be put to an end by the society of good minded men; the darkness of night can be well removed by moon-beams.
23. आयुर्वायुविघट्टिताभ्रपटलीलम्बाम्बुवद्भङ्गुरं भोगा मेघवितानमध्यविलसत्सौदामिनीचञ्चलाः ।
लोलायौवनलालनाजलरयश्चेत्याकलय्य द्रुतं मुद्रैवाद्य दृढार्पिता ननु मया चित्ते चिरं शान्तये ॥ २३ ॥
Life is as fickle as a drop of water pending on a mass of clouds blown away by the winds. Our enjoyments are as unsteady as the lightning that flickers in the midst of clouds. The pleasures of youth are as slippery as water. With these reflections in my mind, I have subdued them all under the province of peace and tranquility.
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