Passage 1
लक्ष्मण उवाच— एवं चिन्तयतस्तस्य मुनीन्द्रः समुपागतः। शुकः सर्वार्थतत्त्वज्ञो वैयासकिरुदारधीः॥१॥
Lakṣmaṇa said: “As Janaka reflected in this way, the great sage Śuka, noble-minded son of Vyāsa and knower of the truth of all things, arrived.
Passage 2
तमपृच्छत्ततो राजा तद्देवचरितं स्मरन्। प्रजातामनुजातायां लीनां तस्याश्च शैशवम्। स्मारं स्मारं बभूवासौ विमूढ इव योगवित्॥२॥
The king questioned him while recalling that divine event: the elder child had merged into the younger, who had then become an infant. Repeatedly remembering it, even that master of yoga appeared bewildered.
Passage 3
राजोवाच— जाता मे परमा कन्या देवतात्मा कलानिधिः। तस्याः प्रकाशमात्रेण निस्तमस्कमभूज्जगत्॥३॥
The king said: “A supreme daughter has been born to me, divine in essence and a treasury of every excellence. By her mere appearance the world became free of darkness.
Passage 4
नूनमेषा स्वयं लक्ष्मीर्या विष्णोरुरसि स्थिता। किञ्चित्कारणमासाद्य प्राकट्यं समुपागता॥४॥
Surely she is Lakṣmī herself, who dwells upon Viṣṇu's breast and has now become manifest for some purpose.
Passage 5
अहो अत्यद्भुतं चास्या रूपं तत्सुमनोहरम्। पायं पायं दृशा ब्रह्मन्नहं मग्नः सुखोदधौ॥५॥
How wondrous and captivating her form is! Drinking it again and again with my eyes, O Brahmin, I became immersed in an ocean of happiness.
Passage 6
ब्रह्मानन्दादपि महदन्वभूवमहं सुखम्। अथान्या देवता जाता तस्मिन्नेव क्षणे मुने॥६॥
I experienced a happiness greater even than Brahman-bliss. Then, sage, another goddess appeared at that very moment—
Passage 7
सुवर्णहलकृष्टायां यज्ञवेदीमहाभुवि। तरुणी तरुणेन्द्राभा साक्षाच्छ्रीरिव रूपिणी॥७॥
upon the great ground of the sacrificial altar ploughed with a golden plough: a youthful woman radiant as the sovereign of youth, embodied like Śrī herself.
Passage 8
सर्वावयवशोभाढ्या तेजःसद्मानुभाविनी। उत्फुल्लपङ्कजमुखी कोटिचन्द्रप्रभातनुः॥८॥
Every limb abounded in beauty; she was a dwelling of splendor and possessed immeasurable majesty. Her face was a fully opened lotus and her body shone like millions of moons.
Passage 9
तां गृहीत्वाहमायातो ब्रह्मघोषपुरःसरम्। तडिच्चन्द्रार्कतुल्याभां यावद्राज्ञ्यै समर्पये॥९॥
I took that radiant one, whose luster equaled lightning, moon, and sun, and approached amid Vedic proclamations to place her in the queen's care.
Passage 10
तावत्सम्पश्यतां नॄणां तत्क्षणेनैव पूर्वजा। स्वयं भुव्यनुजातायां समाविश्य व्यलीयत॥१०॥
But as the people watched, in that very instant the elder child entered the younger, self-manifest daughter of the earth, and dissolved within her.
Passage 11
रुदन्ती भूमिगा कन्या सा चासीदद्य जातवत्। अजातनालच्छेदा सा जातकाख्येन कर्मणा॥११॥
The earth-born daughter then cried like one newly born. Though no umbilical cord had been cut, she was treated through the rite called the birth ceremony.
Passage 12
महान्तमुत्सवं कृत्वा पुत्रवत् संस्कृता मया। तत्किमेतन्मुनिश्रेष्ठ संजातं चरितं तयोः। पूर्वजानुजयोर्मातृगर्भरत्नस्वयंभुवोः॥१२॥
I celebrated a great festival and performed her rites exactly as for a son. What, best of sages, is this mystery that occurred between the elder and younger—the jewel born from her mother's womb and the self-manifest child?”
Passage 13
एतच्छ्रुत्वा वचो राज्ञो योगीन्द्रः शुकनामकः। उवाच जनकं भूपं तपोर्याथात्म्यसारवित्॥१३॥
Hearing the king's words, the great yogi Śuka, knower of the essential truth realized through austerity, addressed King Janaka.
Passage 14
श्रीशुक उवाच— शृणु राजन् प्रवक्ष्यामि याथात्म्यं कन्ययोस्तयोः। एकैव सा महालक्ष्मीर्या परा परमा कला॥१४॥
Śrī Śuka said: “Listen, king, and I shall explain the true nature of those two daughters. She is one Mahālakṣmī, the transcendent and supreme power.
Passage 15
अविनाभावसम्बन्धान्नित्यमेव प्रतिष्ठिता। हरौ लीलारसानन्दसर्वसाम्राज्यभाजने॥१५॥
Through an inseparable relationship she is eternally established in Hari, the vessel of the entire sovereign realm of the blissful rasa of līlā.
Passage 16
सा तु पूर्णस्वरूपेण प्रमोदवनमध्यगा। पूर्णं नित्यं परं ब्रह्म रसरूपं निजं वपुः॥१६॥
In her complete essential form she dwells at the center of Pramoda forest. Her own body is complete, eternal, supreme Brahman whose nature is rasa.
Passage 17
रामाख्यं चिद्घनानन्दं रमयत्येष भाविनी। नित्यप्रेममयैः केलिरसैः कौतुककारिभिः॥१७॥
This loving goddess delights him who is named Rāma, condensed consciousness and bliss, through wondrous playful rasas composed of eternal prema.
Passage 18
क्रीडनैश्चरितैः सर्वकल्याणगुणयोगिभिः। तच्च प्रमोदविपिनं तस्याः स्थानं मनोरमम्॥१८॥
She delights him through games and deeds endowed with every auspicious quality. That enchanting Pramoda grove is her abode.
Passage 19
रामवैकुण्ठमुद्दिष्टं सीतावैकुण्ठमद्भुतम्। कालाक्षरातिगं मायागुणसंदोहदुर्गमम्॥१९॥
It is proclaimed as Rāma Vaikuṇṭha and the wondrous Sītā Vaikuṇṭha, beyond time and the imperishable, inaccessible to māyā and the multitude of guṇas.
Passage 20
अप्राकृतं चिदाकारं प्रेमानन्दरसात्मकम्। नायिका तस्य स्थानस्य नाम्ना श्रीसहजेश्वरी॥२०॥
It is supramundane, formed of consciousness, and constituted of the rasa of prema-bliss. The heroine of that abode is named Śrī Sahajeśvarī.
Passage 21
वशीकृत्य निजैर्नित्यैः प्रेमानन्दमयैर्गुणैः। नित्यं स्वरमणं रामं रमते सा निरन्तरम्॥२१॥
With her own eternal qualities made of prema-bliss she brings Rāma, her eternal beloved, under love's sway and delights with him without interruption.
Passage 22
यथा रामस्तथैवेयं तथा रामो यथा ह्यसौ। उभयोर्नैव भेदोऽस्ति विदुषां तत्त्वदर्शिनाम्॥२२॥
As Rāma is, so is she; as she is, so is Rāma. For the wise who see reality, there is no difference whatsoever between them.
Passage 23
मुमुक्षूणां च मुक्तानां साधकानां परायणम्। युगलं नाम तद्ब्रह्म परात्परमुदाहृतम्॥२३॥
That divine couple is the supreme refuge of seekers of liberation, liberated souls, and practitioners, and is declared to be Brahman beyond the highest.
Passage 24
स भूमा पुरुषोऽस्यांशः किमुतान्ये सुरादयः। सर्वावतारमूलं तत्कालमायागुणातिगम्॥२४॥
Even the infinite Supreme Person is a portion of this reality—what then of the other gods? It is the root of every avatāra and transcends time, māyā, and the guṇas.
Passage 25
अस्यैव कीर्तिताः सर्वे आविर्भावा अनेकधा। देवताः पितरश्चैव सिद्धविद्याधरोरगाः॥२५॥
All the many manifestations proclaimed in scripture belong to this alone: gods, ancestors, Siddhas, Vidyādharas, and serpents.
Passage 26
मनुष्याः पशवश्चान्ये समुद्भूता इतोऽंशतः। किं बहूक्तेन सर्वोऽपि प्रपञ्चो निमिभूपते॥२६॥
Humans, animals, and all other beings have arisen as portions from it. Why say more, king of Nimi's line? The entire manifest cosmos comes from it.
Passage 27
इत एवोदयं प्राप्तस्तथैवास्मिन् प्रलीयते। अस्मिंश्च तिष्ठते नित्यं कोटिब्रह्माण्डरूपतः॥२७॥
From this alone the cosmos arises, into this it dissolves, and within this it eternally abides in the form of millions of universes.
Passage 28
समासव्यासयोगेन समस्तो निगमः स्फुटम्। अमुमेव सदा गायत्यन्तस्तत्त्वसमाख्यया॥२८॥
In concise declarations and extensive exposition, the whole Veda plainly and perpetually sings this very reality under the name of the innermost truth.
Passage 29
उद्गायोद्गाय बहुधा नेति नेतीत्युवाच ह। लक्ष्मीरस्याः प्रभूतोऽंशो या वैकुण्ठे विराजते॥२९॥
Singing it again and again in many ways, the Veda finally declares, ‘Not this, not this.’ Lakṣmī, who shines in Vaikuṇṭha, is a great portion of her.
Passage 30
श्रीमन्नारायणयुता सर्वभक्तेष्टदायिनी। नारायणोऽपि रामांशः शङ्खचक्रगदाब्जभृत्॥३०॥
United with glorious Nārāyaṇa, Lakṣmī grants every devotee's cherished desire. Nārāyaṇa, who bears conch, discus, mace, and lotus, is likewise a portion of Rāma.
Passage 31
चतुर्भुजस्वरूपेण वैकुण्ठे च प्रकाशते। सीतारामौ नित्यलीलौ रमेते श्रीप्रमोदने॥३१॥
He appears in Vaikuṇṭha in a four-armed form, while Sītā and Rāma, whose līlā is eternal, delight together in glorious Pramoda forest.
Passage 32
प्रमोदवनमभ्येत्य महावैकुण्ठमुत्तमम्। पूर्णरूपे तिरोभूय लीलाः सम्भावयिष्यति॥३२॥
Upon reaching Pramoda forest, the supreme Mahāvaikuṇṭha, the avatāra will become hidden within the complete form and bring its līlās to fulfillment.
Passage 33
तदर्थं पूर्णरूपेण प्रादुर्भूतेयमद्भुता। प्रमोदवनलीलानां सिद्धये परमा रमा॥३३॥
For that purpose this wondrous supreme Ramā has manifested in her complete form, to accomplish the līlās of Pramoda forest.
Passage 34
अवतारमयी लीला साकेतनगरे पृथक्। मूलरूपमयी लीला प्रमोदवनमध्यगा॥३४॥
The avatāra-form līlā occurs distinctly in the city of Sāketa, while the līlā of the root form abides at the center of Pramoda forest.
Passage 35
अयं भेदः समुद्दिष्टो रूपद्वयविभावने। प्रमोदविपिने चैषा नित्यमेव हि क्रीडति। श्रीराजिन्यां गोपवध्वां गोपश्रीनन्दनाभिधात्॥३५॥
This is the distinction taught in contemplating the two forms. In Pramoda grove she plays eternally, appearing amid the splendid pastoral realm as a cowherd beloved beside him known as Gopa Śrīnandana.”