52. Chapter 52

श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । कदाचिदथ मार्गेण तेन कैलासवासिनीम् । अहं स्नातुमदृश्यात्मा व्योमवीथीगतोऽगमम् ॥ १ ॥

śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | kadācidatha mārgeṇa tena kailāsavāsinīm | ahaṃ snātumadṛśyātmā vyomavīthīgato'gamam || 1 ||

Vasishtha continued:—It was on one occasion that I passed by that (Dasura's) way in my invisible body, to bathe in the heavenly stream of mandakini (milky way) in the etherial regions.

निर्गत्य नभसः सप्तमुनिमण्डलकोटरात् । रात्रौ प्राप्तोऽस्मि सुमते दाशूरतरुमुन्नतम् ॥ २ ॥

nirgatya nabhasaḥ saptamunimaṇḍalakoṭarāt | rātrau prāpto'smi sumate dāśūratarumunnatam || 2 ||

After my departure from that region by the way of the Pleiades (saptarshi), I arrived to the spot where Dasura dwelt on his high Kadamba tree.

यावच्छृणोमि विटपकुहरात्कानने वचः । कुड्मलाम्भोजलग्नस्य षट्पदस्येव निःस्वनम् ॥ ३ ॥

yāvacchṛṇomi viṭapakuharātkānane vacaḥ | kuḍmalāmbhojalagnasya ṣaṭpadasyeva niḥsvanam || 3 ||

I came to listen to a voice proceeding from the hollow of the tree in the forest, which was as charming as the buzzing of the bee, fluttering about the bud of a lotus.

शृणु पुत्र महाबुद्धे वस्तुतोऽस्य समामिमाम् । वर्णयामि महाश्चर्यामेकामाख्यायिकां तव ॥ ४ ॥

śṛṇu putra mahābuddhe vastuto'sya samāmimām | varṇayāmi mahāścaryāmekāmākhyāyikāṃ tava || 4 ||

Attend my intelligent son! said he, to a narrative that I will relate unto thee by way of a simile of worldly things, and it is pleasant to hear.

अस्ति राजा महावीर्यो विख्यातो भुवनत्रये । नाम्ना खोत्थ इति श्रीमाञ्जगदाक्रमणक्षमः ॥ ५ ॥

asti rājā mahāvīryo vikhyāto bhuvanatraye | nāmnā khottha iti śrīmāñjagadākramaṇakṣamaḥ || 5 ||

There is a very powerful King renowned in all the three worlds for his great prosperity. His name is Khottha or Air-produced, and able to grasp the whole world.

अस्यानुशासनं सर्वे भुवनेष्वपि नायकाः । शिरोभिर्धारयन्त्युच्चैश्चूडामणिमिवार्थिनः ॥ ५ ॥

asyānuśāsanaṃ sarve bhuvaneṣvapi nāyakāḥ | śirobhirdhārayantyuccaiścūḍāmaṇimivārthinaḥ || 5 ||

There is a very powerful King renowned in all the three worlds for his great prosperity. His name is Khottha or Air-produced, and able to grasp the whole world.

यः साहसैकरसिको नानाश्चर्यविहारवान् । केनचित्त्रिषु लोकेषु न महात्मा वशीकृतः ॥ ७ ॥

yaḥ sāhasaikarasiko nānāścaryavihāravān | kenacittriṣu lokeṣu na mahātmā vaśīkṛtaḥ || 7 ||

He exulted in his valour and the possession of all kinds of rarities, and there is no one in the three worlds, that is able to bring him under his subjection.

यस्यारम्भसहस्राणि सुखदुःखप्रदान्यलम् । संख्यातुं केन शक्यन्ते कल्लोला जलधेरिव ॥ ८ ॥

yasyārambhasahasrāṇi sukhaduḥkhapradānyalam | saṃkhyātuṃ kena śakyante kallolā jaladheriva || 8 ||

His unnumbered acts and exploits, are fraught with successive pain and pleasure; and they are as interminable as the continuous waves of the sea.

यस्य वीर्यं सुवीर्यस्य न शस्त्रैर्न च पावकैः । केनचिद्भुवने क्रान्तमाकाशमिव मुष्टिना ॥ ९ ॥

yasya vīryaṃ suvīryasya na śastrairna ca pāvakaiḥ | kenacidbhuvane krāntamākāśamiva muṣṭinā || 9 ||

No one has been able to check the prowess of that mighty brave by force of fire or sword, as none hath ever been able to press the air or wind in his hand.

यदीयां विततारम्भां लीलां निर्माणभासुराम् । न मनागनुवर्तन्ते शक्रोपेन्द्रहरा अपि ॥ १० ॥

yadīyāṃ vitatārambhāṃ līlāṃ nirmāṇabhāsurām | na manāganuvartante śakropendraharā api || 10 ||

Even the gods Indra, Upendra and Hara, have fallen short of following his steps in his ambitious pursuits, and the splendid inventions of his imagination.

त्रयस्तस्य महाबाहो देहा विहरणक्षमाः । जगदाक्रम्य तिष्ठन्ति ह्युत्तमाधममध्यमाः ॥ ११ ॥

trayastasya mahābāho dehā viharaṇakṣamāḥ | jagadākramya tiṣṭhanti hyuttamādhamamadhyamāḥ || 11 ||

With his triple form of the satvika, rajasika and tamasika qualities, he encompasses the world, and is enabled to accomplish all sorts of actions.

व्योमन्येवातिवितते जातोऽसौ त्रिशरीरकः । तत्रैव च स्थितिं यातः शब्दपातश्च पक्षिवत् ॥ १२ ॥

vyomanyevātivitate jāto'sau triśarīrakaḥ | tatraiva ca sthitiṃ yātaḥ śabdapātaśca pakṣivat || 12 ||

He is born in the extensive vacuity (of the spirit of Brahma), with his triple body as that of a bird.

तत्रैवापारगगने नगरं तेन निर्मितम् । चतुर्दशमहारथ्यं विभागत्रयभूषितम् ॥ १३ ॥

tatraivāpāragagane nagaraṃ tena nirmitam | caturdaśamahārathyaṃ vibhāgatrayabhūṣitam || 13 ||

He has built a city in that unlimited space of the Universe, having fourteen provinces (chaturdasa Bhuvana) (the planetary spheres), in its triple divisions (tribhuvana) of the earth and regions above and below it.

वनोपवनमालाढ्यं क्रीडाशिस्ररिसुन्दरम् । मुक्तालताविवलितवापीसप्तकभूषितम् ॥ १४ ॥

vanopavanamālāḍhyaṃ krīḍāśisrarisundaram | muktālatāvivalitavāpīsaptakabhūṣitam || 14 ||

It is beautified with forests and groves and pleasure-lawns and hills, and bounded by the seven lakes of pearly waters on all sides.

शीतलोष्णात्मकाक्षीणदीपद्वयविराजितम् । ऊर्ध्वाधोगतिरूपेण वणिङ्मार्गेण संकुलम् ॥ १५ ॥

śītaloṣṇātmakākṣīṇadīpadvayavirājitam | ūrdhvādhogatirūpeṇa vaṇiṅmārgeṇa saṃkulam || 15 ||

It is lighted by two lamps of hot and cooling light (the sun and moon), which revolve above and below it in their diurnal and nocturnal courses, as those of righteous and nefarious people.

तस्मिन्नेवातिविपुले पत्तने तेन भूभृता । संसारिणो विरचिता मुग्धापवरका गणाः ॥ १६ ॥

tasminnevātivipule pattane tena bhūbhṛtā | saṃsāriṇo viracitā mugdhāpavarakā gaṇāḥ || 16 ||

The king has peopled this great city of his with many selfmoving bodies (animals), which move in their spheres quite ignorant of themselves.

ऊर्ध्वं केचिदधः केचित्केचिन्मध्ये नियोजिताः । केचिच्चिरेण नश्यन्त केचिच्छीघ्रविनाशिनः ॥ १७ ॥

ūrdhvaṃ kecidadhaḥ kecitkecinmadhye niyojitāḥ | keciccireṇa naśyanta kecicchīghravināśinaḥ || 17 ||

Some of these are appointed in higher and some in lower spheres, and others move in their middle course; some destined to live a longer time, and others doomed to die in a day.

असितच्छादनच्छन्ना नवद्वारविभूषिताः । अनारतवहद्वाता बहुवातायनान्विताः ॥ १८ ॥

asitacchādanacchannā navadvāravibhūṣitāḥ | anāratavahadvātā bahuvātāyanānvitāḥ || 18 ||

These bodies are covered with black skins and hairs (as thatched huts), and furnished with nine holes (as their doors or windows); which are continually receiving in and carrying out the air to keep them alive.

दीपपञ्चकसालोकास्त्रिस्थूणाः शुक्लदारवः । मसृणालेपमृदवः प्रतोलीभुजसंकुलाः ॥ १९ ॥

dīpapañcakasālokāstristhūṇāḥ śukladāravaḥ | masṛṇālepamṛdavaḥ pratolībhujasaṃkulāḥ || 19 ||

They are supplied with five lights of sensation and perceptions and supported by three posts of the two legs and the back bone, and a frame work of white bones for the beams and bamboo rafters. It is plastered over with flesh as its moistened clay (or mud wall), and defended by the two arms as latches on door way.

मायया रचितास्तेन राज्ञा तेषु महात्मना । रक्षितारो महायक्षा नित्यमालोकभीरवः ॥ २० ॥

māyayā racitāstena rājñā teṣu mahātmanā | rakṣitāro mahāyakṣā nityamālokabhīravaḥ || 20 ||

The Great king has placed his sentinel of the Yaksha of egoism as a guard of this house; and this guard is as ferocious as a Bhairava in dark (ignorance), and as timorous as a Bhairava by the day.

अथापवरकौघेषु चलत्सु स महीपतिः । करोति विविधां क्रीडां नीडेष्विव विहङ्गमः ॥ २१ ॥

athāpavarakaugheṣu calatsu sa mahīpatiḥ | karoti vividhāṃ krīḍāṃ nīḍeṣviva vihaṅgamaḥ || 21 ||

The masters of these locomotive bodies, play many pranks in them, as a bird plays its frolics in its own nest.

त्रिशरीरशतेष्वन्तस्तैर्यक्षैः सह पुत्रक । लीलावशमुषित्वा तु पुनर्निर्गम्य गच्छति ॥ २२ ॥

triśarīraśateṣvantastairyakṣaiḥ saha putraka | līlāvaśamuṣitvā tu punarnirgamya gacchati || 22 ||

This triformed prince (the mind) is always fickle, and never steady in any; he resides in many bodies and plays his gambles there with his guard of egoism, and leaves one body for another at will, as a bird alights from one branch upon another.

तस्येच्छा जायते वत्स कदाचिच्चलचेतसः । पुरं भविष्यन्निर्माणं किंचिद्यामीति निश्चला ॥ २३ ॥

tasyecchā jāyate vatsa kadāciccalacetasaḥ | puraṃ bhaviṣyannirmāṇaṃ kiṃcidyāmīti niścalā || 23 ||

This fickle minded prince is ever changeful in his will; he resides in one city and builds another for his future habitation.

भूताविष्ट इवावेगात्तत उत्थाय धावति । पुरं तदप्यथाप्नोति गन्धर्वैरिव निर्मितम् ॥ २४ ॥

bhūtāviṣṭa ivāvegāttata utthāya dhāvati | puraṃ tadapyathāpnoti gandharvairiva nirmitam || 24 ||

Like one under the influence of a ghost, he stirs up from one place and runs to another, as a man builds and breaks and rebuilds his aerial castle at his hobby.

तस्येच्छा जायते पुत्र कदाचिच्चलचेतसः । विनाशं संप्रयामीति तेनाशु स विनश्यति ॥ २५ ॥

tasyecchā jāyate putra kadāciccalacetasaḥ | vināśaṃ saṃprayāmīti tenāśu sa vinaśyati || 25 ||

The Mind sometimes wishes to destroy its former frame and remove to another, and effects its purpose at will.

पुनरुत्पद्यते तूर्णं स्वात्मनोर्मिरिवाम्भसः । व्यवहारं तनोत्युच्चैः पुनरारम्भमन्थरम् ॥ २६ ॥

punarutpadyate tūrṇaṃ svātmanormirivāmbhasaḥ | vyavahāraṃ tanotyuccaiḥ punarārambhamantharam || 26 ||

It is produced again as the wave of the sea, after it had subsided to rest; and it pursues slowly and gradually a different course in its renewed course of life.

स्वयैव व्यवहृत्याथ कदाचित्परिभूयते । किंकरोस्म्यहमज्ञोऽस्मि दुःखितोऽस्मीति शोचति ॥ २७ ॥

svayaiva vyavahṛtyātha kadācitparibhūyate | kiṃkarosmyahamajño'smi duḥkhito'smīti śocati || 27 ||

This prince sometimes repents of his own conduct and acts in his new life, and then laments for his ignorance and miseries and knows not what to do.

मुदमेत्य कदाचिच्च स्वयमायाति दीनताम् । प्रावृड्वर्षकलोल्लासपूरादिव नदीरयः ॥ २८ ॥

mudametya kadācicca svayamāyāti dīnatām | prāvṛḍvarṣakalollāsapūrādiva nadīrayaḥ || 28 ||

He is sometimes dejected by sorrow and at others elated by success, like the current of a river, now going down in the hot season, and again overflowing its banks in the rains.

जयति गच्छति वल्गति जृम्भते स्फुरति भाति न भाति च भासुरः । सुत महामहिमा स महीपतिः पतिरपामिएव वातरयाकुलः ॥ २९ ॥

jayati gacchati valgati jṛmbhate sphurati bhāti na bhāti ca bhāsuraḥ | suta mahāmahimā sa mahīpatiḥ patirapāmieva vātarayākulaḥ || 29 ||

This king is led by his hobbies like the waters of the sea by the winds; it puffs and swells, falls and rises, runs fast and ceases to flow at once as in a calm.