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राम

पश्चिमखण्ड · अध्याय 64

Sahajā Rescues the Sages at the Great Dissolution

Global chapter 455 of 51433 passagesSource PDF pages 214216
Chapter context and opening material

Source: Volume 3, physical PDF pages 214–216 (printed pages 200–202). Structure: Thirty-three continuously numbered Sanskrit verses. Verses 1–5 describe Sahajā's withdrawal of the cosmos and the twelve-year drought, fire, storm, and single ocean of dissolution; verses 6–24 are Vasiṣṭha and the sages' hymn to her as self-luminous consciousness, the ground of manifestation, the eternal Pramodavana, and the refuge beyond action and knowledge; verses 25–30 narrate her lotus-boat rescue of sages and gods; and verses 31–33 state the hymn's fruit. Summary: Śiva tells Rājinī that Sahajā once withdrew the entire manifested order into herself. A twelve-year drought, twelvefold sun, and apocalyptic storm reduced the worlds to one ocean, where Vasiṣṭha and the other sages prayed to her. Their hymn identifies Sahajā with self-revealing consciousness, cause and substance of the universe, and the eternal subtle space of Pramodavana. Those who reach her lotus feet pass beyond the crooked obstructions of ritual action and knowledge and receive intrinsic devotion. Sahajā then manifests a divine lotus-shaped boat, herself becomes its pilot, and ferries the sages and gods across the ocean of dissolution. Recitation of their hymn grants her favor, stable prosperity, deliverance from death, love's treasure, and fulfillment at Rāma's lotus feet. The Great Dissolution

Passage 1

श्रीशिव उवाच— कदाचिदेषा सहजा स्वयमात्मरति गता। लयं कृत्वा प्रपञ्चस्य भोक्तुकामैव केवलम्॥१॥

Śrī Śiva said: Once Sahajā, delighting in her own Self and desiring to enjoy alone, dissolved the manifested cosmos.

Passage 2

निःशेषयित्वा निखिलं द्वन्द्वातीता बभूव ह। तदा भक्तान् स्वयं भुक्तान् प्रवेशितवती तनौ॥२॥

Having brought everything without remainder to an end, she stood beyond all duality. She then drew into her own body the devotees whom she herself had enjoyed.

Passage 3

ततः पूर्वमनावृष्टिर्जाता द्वादशवार्षिकी। अतपच्च रविश्चण्डो मण्डलद्वादशात्मकः॥३॥

First there came a drought lasting twelve years, and the fierce sun, assuming twelve disks, burned intensely.

Passage 4

तेन शुष्कं जगत्सर्वं सहस्थावरजंगमम्। कालजीमूतसंघातस्ततः प्रावर्षतोच्चकैः॥४॥

That dried up the entire world with all that moves and stands still. Then the massed clouds of Time poured down with overwhelming force.

Passage 5

तत एकार्णवे जाते वसिष्ठाद्या महर्षयः। मज्जमाना महात्रासादेनां तुष्टुवुरञ्जसा॥५॥

When all had become a single ocean, the great sages beginning with Vasiṣṭha, sinking in terrible fear, fervently praised her. The Sages' Hymn to Sahajā

Passage 6

ऋषय ऊचुः— नमो ब्रह्मस्वरूपिण्यै स्वानन्दघनमूर्तये। व्यक्ताव्यक्तातिवर्तिन्यै स्वप्रकाशचिदात्मने॥६॥

The sages said: Homage to her whose very form is Brahman, the solid embodiment of her own bliss; to her who transcends manifest and unmanifest, whose Self is self-luminous consciousness.

Passage 7

गिरां देव्यै च नित्यायै शब्दार्थाखिलमूर्तये।<br+सप्रपञ्चाप्रपञ्चायै स्वतन्त्रायै नमो नमः॥७॥

Homage again and again to the eternal goddess of speech, the complete embodiment of word and meaning, both the cosmos and that which is beyond the cosmos, utterly independent.

Passage 8

महाकालकलावत्यै परिणामैकहेतवे। नमस्ते स्थूलसूक्ष्मादिजगद्विधारणात्मने॥८॥

Homage to you who possess the power of Great Time, the sole cause of transformation, whose being sustains the gross, subtle, and every other order of the world.

Passage 9

गुणातीते गुणाधारे जीवशक्त्यङ्कुरात्मिके। वाचातीते परे मातः सहजे पाहि सेवकान्॥९॥

Beyond the guṇas yet their support, the living seed of the soul's power, beyond speech and supreme—Mother Sahajā, protect your servants.

Passage 10

यद्यैवेदं जगत्कर्तुमिच्छा प्रादुर्भवेत्सती। तद्ध्यैव तत्क्षणादेतद्दृश्यजातमदृश्यत॥१०॥

The instant your true will to create this world appears, this whole array of visible things becomes manifest in that very moment.

Passage 11

सच्चिदानन्दरूपा त्वं व्यापिका परमात्मिका। अंशानंशा विशिष्टांशा स्वरूपगुणरूपिका॥११॥

You are being, consciousness, and bliss; all-pervading and the supreme Self. You appear as portions, as what is not a portion, and as distinct portions—through essential nature, qualities, and forms.

Passage 12

त्वमुपादानमेतस्य निमित्तं त्वं परा चितिः। एकधानेकधा चापि विद्वद्भिः परिगीयसे॥१२॥

You are this universe's material substance and its efficient cause; you are supreme consciousness. The wise sing of you as both one and many.

Passage 13

त्वं शक्तस्त्वं शक्तिमती त्वं धर्मश्चासि धर्मिणी। सर्वाभिन्नस्वरूपत्वाद्देवि ब्रह्मेति गीयसे॥१३॥

You are the powerful one and the possessor of power; you are the attribute and its bearer. Goddess, because your nature is undivided from everything, you are proclaimed to be Brahman.

Passage 14

ये त्वां समाश्रिता मर्त्या मृत्युत्रासवशीकृताः। तेषाममृतरूपासि किमन्यत्कथयामहे॥१४॥

For mortals who take complete refuge in you when overwhelmed by fear of death, you are immortality itself. What more can we say?

Passage 15

क्षयेऽपि विश्वस्य चराचरस्य त्वदीयमानन्दमयं पुराणम्। जागर्ति तद्धाम प्रमोदवनाख्यं यत्र प्रकृत्या नु गुणा भवन्ति॥१५॥

Even when the moving and unmoving universe perishes, your primeval, bliss-filled realm called Pramodavana remains awake; there the guṇas do not arise from material nature.

Passage 16

त एव भाग्यैर्विधुरा मनुष्याः श्रीसद्गुरूपास्तिपराङ्मुखाश्च। ये मातरद्धा निगमैनिरूढां न वै तवाङ्घ्र्योः पदवीं श्रयन्ते॥१६॥

Those people alone are bereft of fortune and turn away from service to the true guru who, Mother, do not take refuge in the path of your feet, firmly established by the Vedas.

Passage 17

सम्प्राप्य च त्वच्चरणारविन्दं परामृतस्राविमहामरन्दम्। न कर्मणां ज्ञानपथस्य वापि पश्यन्ति नो वान्यसुरोधवक्रान्॥१७॥

Having reached your lotus feet, whose great nectar flows with supreme immortality, they no longer look toward rites, the path of knowledge, or the crooked obstructions of any other way.

Passage 18

ये ब्रह्मभूताः सहसा प्रसन्ना विशोकवाञ्छाः समसर्वभूताः। सम्प्राप्य ते त्वच्चरणाम्बुजस्थां भक्तिं सुधां वीततृषो भवन्ति॥१८॥

Those who have become Brahman, serene at once, free from grief and craving, and equal toward all beings, reach the nectar of devotion abiding at your lotus feet and become free from thirst.

Passage 19

तावन्न ते धामनि मोदमाना माद्यन्ति तैस्तैरमृताधिभोगैः। यावन्न ते पादसरोजयुग्मे नैसर्गिको जायत एव भक्तिः॥१९॥

Those who rejoice in your realm do not become fully intoxicated by its many immortal enjoyments until intrinsic devotion arises for the pair of your lotus feet.

Passage 20

ये वैष्णवं भूष्णुतमाः पदं तन्महामहाभागवतप्रधानाः। ते पूर्वमद्धा भवतीं भजन्ते परां रमां वै श्रियमादिलक्ष्मीम्॥२०॥

The foremost great Bhāgavatas, supreme ornaments of the Vaiṣṇava state, first worship you indeed as the supreme Ramā, Śrī, and primordial Lakṣmī.

Passage 21

अस्मिन् महाब्रह्मपुरे प्रकामं यत्पुण्डरीकं दहरं सुवेश्म। तस्मिंश्चिदात्मा दहराभिधोऽन्तराकाश एतत्तव धाम नित्यम्॥२१॥

Within this great city of Brahman is the lovely subtle lotus dwelling. In it, the inner space called dahara, whose Self is consciousness, is your eternal realm.

Passage 22

यदस्ति किंचिदिह यच्च नास्ति तत्सर्वमत्रैव परं प्रतिष्ठितम्। सर्वे च कामा विषयाश्च सर्वे परामृतानन्दमया विभान्ति॥२२॥

Whatever exists here and whatever does not exist is all supremely established there. Every desire and every object shines there, composed of the bliss of supreme immortality.

Passage 23

तत्त्वं तदन्विष्य तव स्वरूपं जिज्ञासमाना मुनयो विमानाः। भवन्ति मुक्ताः कतिचित्प्रपद्य नातः परं ते पुनरावृतन्ते॥२३॥

Seeking that reality and desiring to know your true nature, sages become free from pride. Some attain it and are liberated; beyond that, they never return again.

Passage 24

सम्प्रत्यस्मान् कालवेगेन मूढान् नष्टप्राणान् नष्टहृद्बुद्धिवृत्तीन्। त्वं त्रायस्व त्राणकर्तेह नान्यो यस्मादेषा त्वत्समुत्थैव भीतिः॥२४॥

Protect us now—stupefied by Time's force, our vitality lost and the functions of heart and intellect destroyed. There is no other rescuer here, for this terror itself has arisen from you. The Lotus-Boat Rescue

Passage 25

इति तेषां प्रपन्नानां मज्जतां सागरोदके। सद्यः समुदुद्धृतिं कर्तुं दिव्यां नावं ससर्ज सा॥२५॥

Hearing the surrendered sages as they sank in the ocean, she at once created a divine boat to raise them from its waters.

Passage 26

तस्यामारोप्य नौकायां महापद्मदलीकृतौ। स्वयं च वाहिका भूत्वा प्रलयाब्धेरतारयत्॥२६॥

She placed them in that boat, fashioned like a great lotus petal, became its pilot herself, and carried them across the ocean of dissolution.

Passage 27

नक्षत्रग्रहताराद्यैः स्तूयमाना महर्षिभिः। पोतवाहस्वरूपेण स्वयं च शुशुभेतराम्॥२७॥

Praised by the constellations, planets, stars, and great sages, she shone exceedingly in her own form as the vessel's pilot.

Passage 28

इत्यमेषा सुविक्रान्ता स्वतन्त्रा च महोजिता। महाप्रलयपाथोधेर्मुनिवर्यानतारयत्॥२८॥

Thus this greatly triumphant and independent goddess, heroic in power, ferried the best of sages across the ocean of the great dissolution.

Passage 29

तदस्याश्चरितं दृष्ट्वा महर्लोकस्थिताः सुराः। अवाकिरन् कल्पवृक्षप्रसूनैः सहजेश्वरीम्॥२९॥

Seeing this deed of hers, the gods dwelling in Maharloka showered Sahajeśvarī with blossoms from the wish-fulfilling tree.

Passage 30

आब्रह्मभुवनात्सर्वे देवाश्च शरणं गताः। तेऽपि संतारिताः काले प्रादुर्भूय स्वविक्रमैः॥३०॥

All the gods, up through Brahmā's world, took refuge in her. Manifesting her own powers at the proper time, she carried them across as well. Fruit of the Hymn

Passage 31

इदं स्तोत्रं वसिष्ठाद्यैर्मुनिभिः कीर्तितं तु यत्। यः पठेत्तु सततं प्रातस्तस्य श्रीर्वरदा स्वयम्॥३१॥

Whoever regularly recites in the morning this hymn sung by Vasiṣṭha and the other sages receives boons from Śrī herself.

Passage 32

यस्त्रिसंध्यं पठेत् स्तोत्रं तस्य श्रीसहजेश्वरी। सद्यः प्रसन्ना कुरुते निश्चलां धनसम्पदम्॥३२॥

For one who recites the hymn at all three junctions of the day, Śrī Sahajeśvarī is pleased at once and establishes unwavering prosperity.

Passage 33

सद्यस्तारयते मृत्योर्ददाति प्रेमसम्पदम्। श्रीरामचरणाम्भोजे करोति च सुनिर्वृतिम्॥३३॥

She immediately carries one beyond death, grants the treasure of divine love, and brings complete fulfillment at Śrī Rāma's lotus feet.