Passage 1
अथोत्पेतुः परितः प्रमोदवनमुल्वणा नाम राक्षसाः। सोदरकाः सायुधाः सकवचाः सुतीव्रमतयो मदोद्धतास्तामसास्तामसीन्त्रपराक्रमा उल्मुकहस्ता अमङ्गलास्तालशतसमुच्छ्रायवपुषो दुर्दर्शनाः प्रज्वलद्द्वाग्निदृशो गिरिगण्डसमानांसाः पृथुतरनासाविनिःसरच्छ्वाससमुत्कम्पितद्रुमान् समुन्मूलयन्तः पादविन्यासप्रचालितधरणीभागाः सरागाननाः करालजटालकेशाः कृत्तिवाससो गणा इव विकटाटोपताण्डवप्रचण्डाः॥१॥
Then the Rākṣasas called Ulvaṇa sprang up all around Pramoda Forest. They were brothers, armed and armored, fiercely minded, swollen with arrogance, dark in nature, and mighty in the powers of darkness. They carried firebrands and were inauspicious and dreadful to behold, their bodies rising hundreds of palm trees high. Their eyes blazed like twin fires; their shoulders resembled mountain crags. The breath streaming from their broad nostrils shook and uprooted trees, while their footfalls made the ground tremble. Their faces were flushed, their matted hair terrifying, and they wore hides. Like Śiva’s attendant hosts, they were violent in the dreadful display of their tāṇḍava.
Passage 2
तान् लक्ष्मणोऽभिवीक्ष्य श्रीरामाज्ञापरायणस्तदाखिलकार्यप्रसाधनचतुरोऽक्षरब्रह्माकृतिः पुरुषोत्तमस्य द्वितीया मूर्त्तिश्चतुर्मूर्त्तेर्भगवतः सज्जीकृतधनुः सुतीक्ष्णविशिखधारासारैर्निवारितवान्। ते दृष्ट्वा शाद्वले चरन्तं रामधेनुकं सङ्क्षोभयाञ्चक्रुः। ततो वीरः सधेनुकं प्रमोदवनाभ्यन्तरे प्रवेश्य तानापततः प्रचण्डैः काण्डैर्विव्याध॥२॥
Seeing them, Lakṣmaṇa—wholly devoted to Śrī Rāma’s command, skilled in accomplishing all his purposes, the embodied imperishable Brahman, the second form of the Supreme Person among the Lord’s four forms—made his bow ready and held them back with torrents of razor-sharp arrows. When they saw Rāma’s herd grazing on the meadow, they threw it into panic. The hero drove the herd into the interior of Pramoda Forest and struck the charging demons with terrible shafts.
Passage 3
ते विद्धा द्विगुणसञ्जातरुषो लक्ष्मणं विषममुशलसमूहैरवाकिरन्। स निजकाण्डवर्षेण मुशलान् द्विधाकरोत्। तेन द्विधाकृता मुशला दूरादेव परावृत्ताः बभूवुः। कथञ्चन रविरिव पांसुप्रचयावकीर्णमारुताण्डवरान्मुशलदुर्दिनात् स्वरूपं प्रकाशयामास। ते पुनरपि तं राजकुमारमाच्छादयन् शक्तिवृन्दैः। सञ्छिन्नः शक्तिवर्षेण मूर्छितो धरण्यां निपपात॥३॥
Wounded, their anger doubled, and they showered Lakṣmaṇa with masses of fearsome clubs. With a rain of his own arrows he split the clubs in two, so that their severed pieces turned away while still far off. Like the sun emerging with difficulty from foul weather filled with wind-driven dust and clubs, he revealed his form again. They covered the prince once more with hosts of spears. Cut by that spear-rain, he lost consciousness and fell to the ground.
Passage 4
ततो हाहाकृतं दिवि देवसैन्यं बभ्रामोवाच चाहो प्रभो लक्ष्मण कथं निर्विराज [ण्ण?] इवासि संवृत्तः। सम्प्रति खलु त्वमेव गोधोरणीनायको नान्यमुपलभामहे। प्रभुस्तु योगनिद्रावशंवदोऽधुना शेते क्षीरोदार्णवे। प्राणप्रदस्त्वमेवास्य सहजकेलीनां लीलोपधानीकृतसमुद्रतनयैकबाहोः सान्द्रतराश्लेषजपरस्परसुखानुभवरसिकस्य। आदेशोऽसौ त्वां प्रमोदवनरक्षायै गवां पालनाय च महाविक्रमोर्जितमेकवीरं स्वानन्दविलाससाधनोपायम्॥४॥
The divine army in heaven cried out and reeled: “Alas, Lord Lakṣmaṇa, how have you come to lie there as though stripped of splendor? Just now you alone are the leader of the herd; we find no one else. The Lord, subject to yogic sleep, now rests upon the Ocean of Milk. You alone give him life while one of his arms has become a playful pillow for the daughter of the ocean, and he savors the mutual pleasure born of their close embrace. His command appointed you—the lone hero endowed with immense valor—to protect Pramoda Forest and the cows as the means of accomplishing his blissful sport.
Passage 5
स खलु त्वं मैवं कार्षीः। भरतशत्रुघ्नावपि सम्प्रति क्व गताविति न प्रतीमो यतस्त्वमेकाकी महोल्वणैरमीभिर्युध्यसे। संस्मर संस्मर स्वात्मानं समुत्तिष्ठ सज्जीकृतधनुः कोटिराक्षसकुलहन्यवे सौमित्रयेति॥५॥
“You must not act like this. We do not know where Bharata and Śatrughna have now gone, for you are fighting these immense Ulvaṇas alone. Remember, remember your own nature! Rise, son of Sumitrā, bow at the ready, to destroy ten million Rākṣasa clans!”
Passage 6
लक्ष्मणस्तत्क्षणे प्रविधूयाङ्गव्यथां निजमहिमसंस्मृतिसुधाधाराभिस्तूर्णमुत्थाय घोरतरनाराचधाराभिर्दुर्दिनैः समाच्छादितवान् राक्षसमहोदरान्। ते च प्रबलतरभुजगेन्द्रभोगोपमभुजदण्डकुण्डलीकृतकोदण्डनिर्गलत्काण्डाग्रसञ्छिन्नशिरसो निपेतुः परितः प्रमोदवनम्। तेषां पततां शरीराणि धरणीं कामयामासुः। समभूच्चारवो वज्रनिर्घातघोरः। केचिच्च पलायमानाः क्ष्मां समाकम्पयन्। तेषां पलायमानानां चरणविन्याससंरम्भेण व्यशीर्यन्त भूमिभागाः। एवं निर्दलिताखिलविपक्षसैन्यो महावीरो धनुः प्रतिसंहृत्य गवां धोरणीमपालयत्। तावत् सुखं शेते जानकीकण्ठपाणिः सकललोकेश्वरः श्रीरामः॥६॥
At once Lakṣmaṇa shook off his bodily pain. Streams of nectar from the recollection of his own greatness revived him, and he rose swiftly. He covered the huge-bellied Rākṣasas with a storm-dark torrent of dreadful iron arrows. Their powerful arms, like the coils of great serpent kings, curved their bows; but the arrowheads issuing from those bows severed their heads, and they fell throughout Pramoda Forest. Their falling bodies kissed the earth, and the sound was as terrifying as thunderbolts crashing. Some fled, making the ground shake; the violence of their running footfalls broke the land apart. Having crushed the entire hostile army, the great hero lowered his bow and guarded the line of cows. All the while Śrī Rāma, Lord of every world, slept happily with his hand around Jānakī’s neck.
Passage 7
अथ यामार्धावशिष्टायां रजन्यां प्रभोः प्रबोधनाय वैतालिकवरवेशधारिणो वेदा विद्याधरीवेशधारिण्यश्च महोपनिषद उत्थानकमगायन्॥७॥
When half a watch of the night remained, the Vedas assumed the dress of excellent court bards and the great Upaniṣads assumed the dress of celestial women. To awaken the Lord, they sang a morning song.
Passage 8
वेदा ऊचुः। जय जय निजजनकरुणां कुरु कञ्जदलनयन स्वयमेवोज्जृम्भमाणाखिलसौभाग्यसदन जडजीवात्मनां परिणममानस्य तेन तदीयैर्धर्मैः सम्बन्धः सपदि तदात्मनैव दृश्योऽसि॥८॥
The Vedas said: “Victory, victory! Lotus-petal-eyed Lord, show compassion to your own people. You are the self-expanding abode of every blessed quality. When the selves of insentient, embodied beings undergo transformation, their connection with that transformation and its attributes is immediately seen only through the Self that is you.
Passage 9
वयुनं नामैव ते येन परमहंसोऽपि त्वामखिलगुणातीतमहिमानं वेद स्वे महिमनि प्रतिष्ठिततमम्॥९॥
“‘Insight’ is only one of your names: through it even a supreme renunciant knows you, whose greatness transcends every quality and who rests utterly in your own majesty.
Passage 10
न खलु त्वमाधेयो निरपेक्षवृत्तेस्तवैतत्परं पदं यत् सूरयो धिया पश्यन्ति, यत्र काञ्चनी रत्नोपलघटिता भूः, यत्रैरम्मदीयं नाम सरः, यत्र स्वानन्दं संविदेव वापी, यत्र स्वात्मानन्दप्रसाद एव प्रासादः, सबहुविधभोगसमुचितशिखराग्रनिषण्णसत्त्वात्मकचित्तसमाक्रान्तो यत्र त्वमेवाधिराजो विजयसे॥१०॥
“You are not contained in anything, for your activity depends on nothing. This is your supreme station, which the seers behold with awakened understanding: there the ground is gold fashioned with precious stones; there lies the lake called Airammadīya; there awareness of one’s own bliss is the reservoir; and the serenity of one’s own inner bliss is the palace. Its summits are suited to many kinds of enjoyment and are occupied by the sattva-like mind. There you alone reign victorious as sovereign.
Passage 11
अथ दुस्तर्ककलितकलुषीकृतान्तःकरणानामेष लोको दुर्विभावनोऽन्तःसाधनशतं प्रयुञ्जानैरेव ते भवितव्यम्। मनोमयः प्राणवपुः प्रभारूपः सर्वकामः सर्वगन्धः सर्वरसः स एषोऽणुरात्मा चेतसा वेदितव्यः। अयं तव लोकः सच्चिदानन्दघनो बाह्याभ्यन्तरः। न तं कश्चन वेद तव चरणपरागपूतात्मानमृते॥११॥
“For those whose inner faculty has been stained by faulty reasoning, this realm is difficult to conceive; it can be reached only by applying hundreds of inward disciplines. Made of mind, having life-breath as his body, formed of radiance, containing every desire, every fragrance, and every flavor—this subtle Self is to be known by the heart. Your realm is solid existence, awareness, and bliss, both without and within. No one knows it except the one whose self has been purified by dust from your feet.
Passage 12
जय जय सदेकस्वरूप कलात्मक कालकलनातिग चिदेकप्रतिष्ठितनिखिलप्रपञ्चरचनैकाश्रय वाङ्मनसागोचर स्वानन्दसिन्धुलहरीगणसन्निमग्न निजान्तरानन्दिनीसहजालक्ष्मीपराम्बासंवलितनित्यनिकेतन। निरवधिक्रीडार्थं विकल्पमानमिदं विश्वं तद्विशेषमेव। विकृतिरपि त्वत्प्रकृतिरेवेति भेदेनापि मनोवाक् त्वामेवावलम्बते। यथा नद्यः स्यन्दमानाः समुद्रसेवाभिसंविशन्ति तथैतानि नामानि सर्वाणि पुरुषं त्वामभिसंविशन्ति॥१२॥
“Victory, victory! You are the one ever-real form, the Self of every part, beyond the reckoning of time, and the single support of the whole creation that rests in consciousness alone. Speech and mind cannot reach you. You are immersed in the waves of your own ocean of bliss, and your eternal dwelling is embraced by the Supreme Mother, Sahajā Lakṣmī, who delights within you. This world, projected for play without limit, is only a particular expression of that; even transformation is merely your own prakṛti. Thus, even when mind and speech distinguish things, they depend upon you alone. As flowing rivers enter the ocean they serve, so all these names enter you, the Supreme Person.
Passage 13
अथेमे विद्वांसः कायवाक्चित्तमलनिर्वर्हणी त्वत्कथामृतधारान्तःकृतावभृथाः कायक्लेशकराणि तपांसि समापयन्ति। ये पुनः सतत एव सुखानुभवनिकेतनं त्वत्पदद्वयं भजमानाः शुद्धात्मस्वरूपस्फुरणेनान्तःकरणं कालप्रभावं सत्वादींश्च निर्जितवन्तः कुतः क्लेशकर्माण्यवरज्येयुः॥१३॥
“The learned bathe inwardly in the nectar-stream of your stories, a final purificatory bath that removes the stains of body, speech, and mind; they therefore bring body-tormenting austerities to an end. And those who continually worship your two feet, the abode of experienced happiness, have conquered the inner faculty, the force of time, and sattva and the other guṇas through the manifestation of the pure Self. How could actions born of affliction ever fasten upon them?
Passage 14
यदेतदानन्दमयं यदेतदन्नमयादि च तस्यापि पुच्छप्रतिष्ठा च त्वं तव पृथिवी शरीरमात्मा शरीरमव्यक्तं शरीरमक्षरं शरीरं त्वं सर्वान्तरात्मा पहतपाप्मा दिव्यो देव एको रामचन्द्रः॥१४॥
“You are the tail and foundation of the bliss-made sheath and of the food-made and all the other sheaths. Earth is your body; the individual self is your body; the unmanifest is your body; the imperishable is your body. You are the inner Self of all, free from evil—the one radiant God, Rāmacandra.
Passage 15
अथेमे शार्कराक्षा मणिपूरकस्थं ब्रह्मोपासते सदेकशतनाडीस्थानं ते तदनेनैव वर्त्मना। त्वामेत्य न पुनर्दुःखालयमभिसंविशन्ति। सोऽसि त्वमेको देवः सर्वभूतेषु स्थानेषु गूढः॥१५॥
“These Śārkarākṣas worship Brahman stationed in the maṇipūraka, the place of one hundred and one channels. By that very path they reach you and never again enter the abode of sorrow. You are that one God hidden in every being and every place.
Passage 16
अथामूष्वभिव्यक्तिस्थानेषु संश्चकास्ति सोऽसि त्वं प्रतिहतरजस्तमोविसरः शुद्धसत्त्वैकवपुः स्वकर्मोपार्जितनानापुरेशः कार्यकारणासंवृत्तनिखिलांशाखिलशक्तिपरिवृढः कपीनां नैगमोक्तीनामावपनमसि॥१६॥
“You are the one who shines fully in those places of manifestation, with the spread of rajas and tamas repelled and pure sattva as your sole body. You are the lord of the many cities acquired by each being’s own acts; all your parts are unconfined by cause and effect, and you abound in every power. You are the seedbed of the monkeys and of the declarations of the Veda.
Passage 17
अथातिदुर्लभतरस्वतत्त्वप्रकाशनैकान्ततनौ विचित्रलीलारसामृताकूपारे त्वयि मग्ना मत्तासो जनासः किमिति मुक्तिं लवणोदरसदनेशतुल्यां स्पृहयेयुः। यत इमे पारमहंस्यव्रते स्थिताः पदपङ्कजपरागविचित्रितवपुषस्तन्निर्गलन्मकरन्दधारास्वादनिर्वृताः सततमेव विजयन्ते॥१७॥
“Why would people who are immersed and intoxicated in you—whose exclusive form reveals a reality exceedingly difficult to attain, and who are an ocean of nectar from wondrous līlā—desire a liberation that would make them equal to the Lord whose dwelling is within the salt ocean? Established in the supreme-renunciant vow, their bodies adorned by pollen from your lotus feet, they are forever victorious, fulfilled by tasting the stream of nectar flowing from them.
Passage 18
अथास्मिस्त्वत्सेवौपयिके कुलाये परमात्मैकसखायो वत ये न। भजन्ति त उरुतरभीतिमहावर्त्ते भवे भ्रमन्त एव तिष्ठन्ति॥१८॥
“Alas, in this body—a nest suited for serving you—those who do not worship you as the single friend who is the Supreme Self remain wandering in becoming, that immense whirlpool of terrible fear.
Passage 19
अथ ये मनोऽक्षगणं संयम्य दृढभूमिना योगेन हृदि निरुध्य परं तत्त्वं समुपासते। त्वद्भावमचिरेणापि यन्ति। द्विषन्तोऽपि ते चरणयोः सायुज्यमीयुः। प्रमेयबलमदः कतमः स्तोतुं क्षमो भवति॥१९॥
“Those who restrain the mind and the senses, confine them in the heart by firmly grounded yoga, and worship the supreme reality soon attain your state. Even those who hate you have reached union with your feet. Who, then, is able to praise the measurable extent of this power?
Passage 20
अथ भगवन् को नु त्वां जानीयादर्वाक् समस्तदैवतप्रसरं यतो साधुधियामखिलजगदादिभूतमृषिमनुजज्ञिरे आध्यात्मिका आधिदैविकाश्च॥२०॥
“Lord, who short of the whole outflow of divinity could know you? From you, the primordial ground of the entire universe in the understanding of the good, arose sages and Manus, together with the inward and divine powers.
Passage 21
अथ त्वय्यखिलसाम्राज्यसुखाधिकसुखे रसात्मकविग्रहे समधिगते किममीभिः पुत्रापत्यकलत्रादिभिः कुतर्कैः सुदुर्भगैरिति व्यवस्य प्राचीना महाश्लोका महाश्रोत्रा महाशीलाः सर्वं परिहृतवन्तस्त्वयि च रतिं कृतवन्तः। त एवेदं भवात्मकं व्यसनं तीर्णवन्तः॥२१॥
“Having found you—the embodiment of rasa, whose delight exceeds the pleasure of universal sovereignty—the illustrious, deeply learned, noble elders resolved, ‘What use are sons, descendants, wives, and other such things, or wretched false arguments?’ They abandoned everything and placed their love in you. They alone crossed this calamity called conditioned existence.
Passage 22
अथेदं विश्वं सदेव सदुपादानकत्वादितिहेतूपन्यासहतधियां दहनादिभ्य उत्पन्ना प्रभापि दाहिका किं न भवेदिति रघुकुलोत्तंसस्त्वमेव सत्त्वमेव सदिति मन्महे॥२२॥
“Some minds are struck by the argument, ‘This universe must itself be real because its material cause is reality.’ Yet why should radiance born from fire and the like not itself burn? We therefore hold that you alone, crest jewel of Raghu’s line, are true being and reality itself.
Passage 23
अथ यथा भुजगः स्वगतमपि कञ्चुकं गुणबुद्ध्या नाभिमन्यते तथा त्वमजाम्। नहि निरन्तराह्लादिसंवित्कामधेनुवृन्दपतेरजया तव किञ्चित् कृत्यमस्ति प्रभोः॥२३॥
“As a serpent does not regard even the slough that came from itself as one of its own qualities, so you do not identify with unborn prakṛti. Lord of the herd of wish-fulfilling cows that is uninterrupted bliss-consciousness, you have no task whatever to accomplish through the unborn one.
Passage 24
अथ यदि भवान् स्वलिङ्गमुपसंहृत्य कार्यं प्रति दृष्टिं मीलयति तदानुशायिनां ज्ञानसाधनं नास्ति न वा स्थूलं न सूक्ष्म न चोभयम्॥२४॥
“If you withdraw your own distinguishing sign and close your gaze toward the manifested effect, then those lying latent have no means of knowledge—neither the gross, nor the subtle, nor what partakes of both.
Passage 25
अथास्यासतः प्रपञ्चस्य न जन्म घटते सतो वा दुःखादेर्न नाश आत्मनि भिदावकल्पते कर्म च न सम्भवति। सेयं च नाम तव दृष्टिस्त्वय्येव बोधैकस्वभावे। योऽयमबोधनिबन्धनो जीवः सोऽपि भिदया नैव वक्तुमर्हत् सद्विषयत्वाश्रयत्वयोरभावात्त्वयि॥२५॥
“If this world is unreal, its birth cannot occur; if it is real, suffering and the rest cannot cease. Difference cannot be imagined within the Self, and action likewise cannot arise. This, they say, is your very gaze, resting in you whose sole nature is awareness. Even the living being founded upon ignorance cannot properly be declared separate, because in you there is neither a distinct object nor a distinct supporting subject.
Passage 26
अथ त्वय्यवर्तमानमपि मनो वर्त्त [मान?] मिव भातु। ये तु त्वद्वेदितारस्ते इदमशेषं त्वद्रूपतयेवाभिमृषन्ति। नहि कनकमात्रदृशां कुण्डलादिकमवभासते॥२६॥
“Though mind does not exist in you, let it appear as though it were ‘present’—the edition itself marks that word as uncertain. Those who know you regard all this without remainder solely as your form. To people who see only gold, earrings and other ornaments do not appear as separate things.
Passage 27
अथ त्वं स्वत एव व्यावृत्तकार्यकारणाद्युपाधिः सकलकारकशक्त्युपेतः स्वरूपशक्त्यैव राजसे मायया सह तदधीनैरपीड्यमानः॥२७॥
“By your own nature you are free from adjuncts such as effect and cause, yet you possess every power of agency. You shine by your intrinsic power alone, unoppressed by māyā or by anything dependent upon it.
Passage 28
अथ यदि नित्यलीलस्य ते मायया सह विकृतिर्भवेत् ततः स्थावरा जङ्गमाश्च नानाकृतयो जीवा भवेयुः। सेयमीक्षैव तव परमकारुणिकस्य व्योम्न इव स्वपरभिदाशून्यस्य॥२८॥
“When your eternal līlā undergoes modification together with māyā, living beings of many forms, stationary and moving, come to be. This creation is only the glance of you, the supremely compassionate one, who, like space, is empty of division between self and other.
Passage 29
अथ त्वं व्यापको नियन्ता सेव्य एवामी त्वणवो व्याप्या नियम्याः सेवका एव त्वदुपलब्धाखिलवैभवभाजो नान्यथा प्रतिपत्तव्या क्षुद्रविस्फुलिङ्गा इव नाग्निकूटस्य तुलामधिरोहसि॥२९॥
“You are the all-pervading controller and the one to be served. These minute selves are pervaded, governed, and servants; all the splendor they possess is obtained from you, and they must not be understood otherwise. Tiny sparks do not rise to equality with a mass of fire.
Passage 30
अथ प्रकृतिपुरुषयोरुभयोरप्यजत्वान्न सम्बन्धो घटनामेति येनाध्यात्मिकरूपाः सोपाधयो जीवा जायन्ते। ततः प्रकृतिविकारप्रलयेन सुप्तवासनत्वाच्छुद्धास्ताः परमात्मनि जीवाख्या शक्तयः सृष्टिसमये विकारिणीं प्रकृतिमासज्य क्षुभितवासनाः सत्यः सोपाधिकावस्थां प्राप्नुवन्त्येत्युच्चरन्ति। सोऽयमचिन्त्यस्तवैव महिमा विजयतेतरां रघुवरशार्दूलस्य॥३०॥
“Because both prakṛti and puruṣa are unborn, no relation between them can arise by which conditioned beings possessing individual forms are produced. Accordingly, teachers declare that at the dissolution of prakṛti’s transformations, the powers called jīvas remain pure within the Supreme Self, their dispositions asleep. At creation they join mutable prakṛti; their dispositions are stirred, and they enter the conditioned state. This is your own inconceivable majesty, O tiger among the best of Raghu’s line, and it triumphs exceedingly.
Passage 31
अथासौ हेतिरपि त्वद्भ्रूभङ्गमात्रनियुक्तः सर्वाण्येव वशयितुं शक्तो विहाय त्वद्भजनामृतधाराशीतलमनसो भक्ताख्यान् परमहंसान्॥३१॥
“Even that weapon, dispatched by the slightest bend of your eyebrow, can subdue every being except the supreme renunciants called devotees, whose minds are cooled by the nectar-stream of worshiping you.
Passage 32
अथ कोटिसमीररोधव्यग्रात्मानो न मनो रोद्धुं शक्ताः बहुभिः प्रत्यूहैर्हन्यन्त एव विना भवच्चरणनिदेशकदेशिकम्॥ ॐ ॥३२॥
“Those intensely occupied with stopping ten million currents of breath still cannot restrain the mind. Without a teacher who points toward your feet, they are only battered by many obstacles. Oṁ.”
Passage 33
इत्यभिष्टूयोपरतेषु वेदपुरुषेषु स्तम्भस्वेदादिविविधभावाकुलिताः स्खलद्गिरः सगद्गदाः पुलकविसरकदम्बायिततनवो बहुतरप्रेमाधौतकुचकुम्भकुङ्कुमाः खिद्यमाना इव भूयसा विप्रलम्भेन महोपनिषदो निर्भरसुरतश्रमशयानयोर्दम्पत्योर्युगलमस्तौषुः॥३३॥
When the personified Vedas ceased after praising him, the great Upaniṣads were overwhelmed by many devotional states—motionlessness, perspiration, and the rest. Their speech faltered and choked; waves of horripilation clustered over their bodies; abundant love had washed the vermilion from their rounded breasts. As though tormented by intense separation, they praised the divine couple, who lay together exhausted after complete lovemaking.
Passage 34
महोपनिषद ऊचुः। जय जय कान्तकेलीरसनिमग्नमनसोः कोटिरतिकन्दर्परूपलावण्यमुखयोः स्वाराज्यसुखसाम्राज्यसम्पदाविष्करणवतोरवहेलितवृन्दावनेश्वरीश्रीमद्वृषभानुजाश्रीमद्व्रजेन्द्रनन्दनरसयोर्गोलोकादुपरितनसहजचिल्लोकविलासस्वामिनोः स्वरूपशक्तिमात्राविर्भावितसखिसखीदूतिदूतविटचेटकादिसहायबललब्धकोककलालावण्ययोः श्रीमज्जनकनन्दिनीरघुकुलयोर्युगलाय नमः॥३४॥
The great Upaniṣads said: “Victory, victory! Homage to the resplendent couple, Janaka’s daughter and the scion of Raghu: their minds submerged in the rasa of lovers’ play; their faces possessing the beauty of ten million Cupids; manifesting the wealth and empire of the bliss of self-rule; their rasa making light of that of the Queen of Vṛndāvana, the glorious daughter of Vṛṣabhānu, and the glorious son of Vraja’s king. They are the sovereigns of play in the innate realm of consciousness above Goloka. Their intrinsic power alone manifests female and male companions, messengers, gallants, servants, and other helpers, through whose strength they attain the beauty of the arts of love.
Passage 35
अथ युवाभ्यां दम्पतीभ्यां क्षन्तव्यो नो वैयात्यमदो यत् सुरतान्तविवसनयोः पुरुषायितविपर्यस्तभूषणवसननयनाञ्जनादिविविधाकल्पयोः परस्परकण्ठाश्लेषप्रभूतद्विगुणितसङ्क्षुब्धमनोभूपरवशयोः परस्परोन्मर्द्दक्षुभितवक्षसोः पुलकाञ्चितयोरधरबिम्बस्य सुधापानपरायणयोरीदृशनिस्त्रपयोर्युवयोः समीपं भजामहे नर्मसख्य इव निकुञ्जकेलीभवनद्वारोद्धाटनलब्धानन्दकदम्बाः॥३५॥
“May you two spouses forgive our intoxicated boldness. At the end of lovemaking you are unclothed; ornaments, garments, eye-paint, and every other adornment have been disordered by the woman’s taking the man’s role. Your minds are doubly agitated and helpless through your close embrace around one another’s necks; your chests are stirred by mutual pressing, your skin is thrilled, and each is intent on drinking nectar from the other’s lips. Though you are thus without modesty, we approach you like joking girlfriends, receiving a mass of delight by opening the door of the bower-house of play.
Passage 36
अहो क्व वयं बहुतरकर्मठकुलवञ्चितचित्ता अनेकयोगिज्ञानिगुरुजनकृतप्रत्यूहाः कुलाङ्गना इव गुरुलज्जावरुद्धप्रियदर्शनस्पर्शनमुखामृतविधुरा लज्जयैव व्यतीततारुण्याः, क्व च तव चेदं महोच्छृङ्खलममेयदिव्यरूपलावण्यवारिधिप्रसरणं सततं प्रियाभ्यामेव समासादिता प्रेम्णः पुरुषस्येव सीमा॥३६॥
“Alas, what are we—our minds deceived by families devoted to countless rites, obstructed by many yogins, teachers of knowledge, and elders? Like women of good family whose profound modesty bars them from seeing and touching the beloved and tasting his mouth’s nectar, our youth has passed in shame alone. And what is this utterly unrestrained flood from the boundless ocean of your divine form and beauty, attained continually by the two beloveds alone—the very limit of love, as though love had taken personal form?
Passage 37
अहो अलौकिकत्वं केलीनां यद्विरञ्चिवरसिकस्य प्रावीण्यमतिवर्तन्ते॥३७॥
“How otherworldly are these sports: they surpass even the expertise of Brahmā, the connoisseur.
Passage 38
अहो विचित्रता शोभातिशयस्य यन्निर्भररजनीरङ्गरसिकाभ्यां पूर्णीकृत्य निपीतोऽप्यनुक्षणं वर्धमान एवाविर्भविष्णुः॥३८॥
“How wondrous is this surpassing beauty! Although the two connoisseurs of the night’s complete play fill themselves with it and drink it down, it manifests anew and increases at every moment.
Passage 39
अहो युवाभ्यामेव पूजितः परस्परालापपरिरम्भणचुम्बननखरददानमन्दस्मितोन्मर्दनादिभिर्मन्दारकल्पद्रुमकुसुमसमूहैः केलीमनोरथकामतरुः कामदेवः। वत वत कथमप्यसुलभाय मनोमोहैककन्दाय सहजानन्दाय नमो युवयोः सुरताय॥३९॥
“Love’s god—the wish-fulfilling tree of every desire for play—is worshiped by you two alone with heaps of mandāra and wish-tree flowers: conversation, embracing, kissing, scratches and bites, gentle smiles, pressing, and the rest. Ah, ah! Homage to your lovemaking: somehow unattainable, the single root of the mind’s enchantment, and innate bliss itself.
Passage 40
अहो वयं त्रिगुणप्रवाहमार्गपतिताः किं प्राप्स्याम इमां गुणातीतां सच्चिदानन्दैकरसमयीं सहजानन्दिनीरघूत्तमयोः केलिकलामवलोकितुमपि किं नाधिक्रियामहे दैववञ्चिताः॥४०॥
“Alas, fallen onto the path swept by the current of the three guṇas, how will we attain this art of play between Sahajānandinī and the best of Raghu—a single rasa of existence, consciousness, and bliss beyond the guṇas? Cheated by fate, are we not entitled even to behold it?
Passage 41
अथ यद्यमुयोश्चिल्लोकस्वामिनोः सच्चिदानन्दरसदम्पत्योस्तल्पान्तभूमिकाभाजोः बहुकोटिजन्मार्जितसुकृतोद्भूतभाग्या एव वयं तर्हि नातिचिरादेवाभ्यां नित्यनिजविहारस्य भाजनतां प्राप्स्यामहे। श्यामा रामा ललिता विशाखा रङ्गविद्या पूर्णमासी चम्पकलतादया नित्यसिद्धा इव वयमपि कोटिजन्मसाधनसिद्धाः॥४१॥
“If we are indeed fortunate through merit gathered in many millions of lives, so as to receive a place beside the bed of these sovereigns of the realm of consciousness, this married pair whose rasa is existence, consciousness, and bliss, then before long they will make us recipients of their own eternal play. Like the eternally perfected Śyāmā, Rāmā, Lalitā, Viśākhā, Raṅgavidyā, Pūrṇamāsī, Campakalatā, and the others, we too will be perfected through the discipline of millions of births.”
Passage 42
इत्यभिलाषपूर्वकमभिलष्य ताः सर्वमहोपनिषदोऽतिशयितगुणवर्णनप्राप्तजडिमानस्तूष्णीं बभूवुः॥४२॥
Having voiced this longing with intense desire, all the great Upaniṣads fell silent, rendered speechless by describing the couple’s surpassing qualities.
Passage 43
अथाविरासीच्च निकुञ्जमन्दिरे जालान्तरप्राप्तनिजावकाशः। सूर्यांशुदण्डप्रकरोऽतिकोमलः प्रोत्फुल्लशोणाम्बुजगर्भबन्धुः॥४३॥
Then, within the bower-house, there appeared a most delicate cluster of sunbeams. It found its opening through the lattice and became a companion to the heart of the fully opened red lotus. --- Thus ends the twenty-ninth chapter, “Rāma’s Rāsa,” in the dialogue of Brahmā and Bhuśuṇḍa in the Śrīmad Ādi Rāmāyaṇa. Textual notes The chapter occupies source leaves 251–257 and ends with passage 43 and its complete colophon on leaf 257. The 1975 edition numbers the Vedas’ short वयुनं नामैव ते passage as 9; the auxiliary transcription incorrectly repeats 6, so the scan controls the sequence. The edition’s uncertain readings [ण्ण?] in passage 4 and [मान?] in passage 26 are retained. The scan also controls विरञ्चिवरसिकस्य in passage 37, where the auxiliary transcription omits र. The printed forms सत्वादींश्च (13), न सूक्ष्म (24), त्वद्रूपतयेव (26), प्रतिपत्तव्या (29), and जीवाख्या (30) are likewise retained without silent grammatical emendation. Sanskrit compounds and sandhi have been normalized only where word division or electronic conversion introduced no textual choice.