Passage 1
ब्रह्मोवाच— य इदं शृणुयात्पुण्यं श्रीरामचरितान्वितम्। आख्यानं कालदमनं तस्य कालोऽतिदूरतः। पठेद्वा पाठयेद्वापि न स कालवशे भवेत्॥१॥
Brahmā said: Whoever hears this sacred account of Rāma's deeds—the subduing of Time—keeps Time far away. One who reads it or causes it to be read does not fall under Time's power.
Passage 2
य इदं प्रपठेद्यज्ञे हव्यकव्यादिभोजने। तस्य देवाश्च पितरस्तृप्ता वर्षाणि भूरिशः॥२॥
If one recites it at a sacrifice or an offering of food to gods and ancestors, those gods and ancestors remain satisfied for many years.
Passage 3
यः कालदमनं नाम पठेदाख्यानमादरात्। कृतानि तेन धर्म्याणि कर्माणि बहुशो द्विज॥३॥
Whoever reverently reads the narrative called “The Subduing of Time” has thereby performed many righteous works, twice-born sage.
Passage 4
भुशुण्ड उवाच— ब्रह्मन् काले गते पश्चात्किं वृत्तमभवत्तयोः। रामलक्ष्मणयोस्तत्र वीरयोरितरेतरयोः॥४॥
Bhuśuṇḍa said: Brahmā, after Time departed, what happened there between those two heroes, Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa?
Passage 5
दुर्वासाश्चैव किं वृत्तं मुनेरात्रेयशर्मणः॥५॥
And what occurred with the sage Durvāsā, the glorious son of Atri?
Passage 6
ब्रह्मोवाच— रामभक्त भुशुण्ड त्वं शृणु ह्येतत् कथानकम्। रामस्य चरितं पुण्यं सर्वपापौघनाशनम्॥६॥
Brahmā said: Devotee of Rāma, Bhuśuṇḍa, hear this account—the sacred deed of Rāma that destroys every mass of sin.
Passage 7
लक्ष्मणो रघुशार्दूलं मुनिं प्राप्तं न्यवेदयत्। ततो रामः समुत्थाय स्वर्णसिंहासनोत्तमात्॥७॥
Lakṣmaṇa informed the tiger of Raghu's line that the sage had arrived. Rāma then rose from his excellent golden throne.
Passage 8
द्वारपर्यन्तमागत्य मुनिमन्तर्न्यवेशयत्। पाद्यादिभिस्तथा दिव्यैरुपचारैश्च सोऽग्रहीत्॥८॥
Coming as far as the door, Rāma led the sage inside and received him with divine honors, including water for his feet.
Passage 9
स्वयं लक्ष्मीश्च सा देवी सहजानन्दिनी प्रिया। शनैः पर्यचरत्तत्र मुनिपूजाविधौ सती॥९॥
The beloved goddess Sahajānandinī, Lakṣmī herself, gently attended upon the rite of honoring the sage.
Passage 10
दुर्वासा उवाच— सत्यं प्रभो त्वं पुरुषः सनातनः समागतोऽद्य भुवने स्वधामतः। साकेतनाथः कृपया जनानामत्यार्तिभाजामसुराणां भयेन॥१०॥
Durvāsā said: Truly, Lord, you are the eternal Person. Lord of Sāketa, you have come today from your own abode into the world out of compassion for people overwhelmed by suffering and fear of the demons.
Passage 11
सा तेषामार्तिरत्युग्रा तथैव दिविवासिनाम्। रावणारिविद्रुतानां निरस्ता निजलीलया॥११॥
By your own play you removed their exceedingly fierce distress, and likewise that of heaven's inhabitants, who had been tormented by the enemy Rāvaṇa.
Passage 12
न हि तेऽन्यत् किञ्चित्कार्यमव्यक्तस्यात्मलिङ्गिनः। कृतं परं देवकृत्यं भक्तानां च मनीषितम्॥१२॥
There is truly nothing else for you to accomplish, for you are the unmanifest One appearing in a form of your own. The gods' supreme work and the devotees' cherished desire have been fulfilled.
Passage 13
स त्वं भक्तजनोद्धारणायैव धरणीतले। अवतीर्णः स्वयं राम धनुर्वाणधरः प्रभुः॥१३॥
You yourself, Lord Rāma, descended upon the earth bearing bow and arrows solely to deliver your devotees.
Passage 14
तं त्वां परेशमाज्ञाय प्राप्तोऽस्मि मधुसूदन। ब्रूहि गुह्यतमं ज्ञानं येन मर्त्यो भवं तरेत्॥१४॥
Knowing you to be that supreme Lord, I have come to you, Madhusūdana. Teach the most secret knowledge by which a mortal may cross becoming.
Passage 15
अस्यात्मनो गतिं ब्रूहि विश्वाधारस्य च प्रभो। किं कार्यं मर्त्यलिङ्गानां कथं स्वात्मानमुद्धरेत्॥१५॥
Lord, explain the destiny and nature of this Self, the foundation of the universe. What must embodied mortals do, and how may one raise up one's own self?
Passage 16
जानीयात् त्वां परात्मानं त्रैलोक्यस्थितिकारकम्। कथं च गुरुपादाब्जमुपसीदेद्भवाम्बुधौ॥१६॥
How may one know you as the supreme Self who sustains the three worlds, and how, within the ocean of becoming, should one approach the guru's lotus feet?
Passage 17
किं गुरोर्लक्षणं राम संसारोद्धारकारणम्। किं ज्ञानं च ततः शिक्षेत्प्रपन्नः शिष्यसत्तमः॥१७॥
Rāma, what is the defining mark of the guru who causes deliverance from saṃsāra? What knowledge should the excellent surrendered disciple learn from him?
Passage 18
शिष्यस्य लक्षणं ब्रूहि प्रपन्नस्य मनीषिणः॥१८॥
State also the marks of the wise disciple who has surrendered.
Passage 19
श्रीराम उवाच— सम्यक् ते बुद्धिरुत्पन्ना मुनेरात्रेयशर्मणः। यदध्यात्मगतिं ज्ञातुमेवं व्यवसितोऽसि भोः॥१९॥
Śrī Rāma said: Your understanding has arisen rightly, glorious sage of Atri's line, since you are resolved in this way to know the course of the inner Self.
Passage 20
एकमेव परं ज्ञानं परब्रह्मात्मकं मुने। येन विज्ञातमात्रेण जनोऽञ्जो भवसागरम्॥२०॥
There is only one supreme knowledge, sage—the knowledge whose nature is the supreme Brahman. Merely by realizing it, a person directly crosses the ocean of becoming.
Passage 21
समुत्तरति शोकाढ्यं दुस्तरं ज्ञानिनामपि। यथा वृक्षो भवेत्स्तम्भः शाखाश्च प्रतिशाखिकाः॥२१॥
One crosses that grief-filled ocean, difficult even for the learned to cross. Consider a tree: there are the trunk, branches, and smaller branches.
Passage 22
पत्राणि चैव पुष्पाणि फलानि च फलान्तरम्। त्वचश्च विविधाकारा एक एव तरुर्भवेत्॥२२॥
There are leaves, flowers, fruits and their many kinds, and bark in various forms—yet it is one tree alone.
Passage 23
वृक्षत्वेन न भेदोऽस्ति स्तम्भत्वादिकृता भिदा। एवं जगदिदं सर्वं ब्रह्मैवेति न संशयः॥२३॥
There is no difference in its treehood, though distinctions arise as trunk and the rest. In the same way, this entire universe is Brahman alone—there is no doubt.
Passage 24
पञ्च भूतानि मात्राश्च चित्तं बुद्धिस्तथा मनः। अहङ्कृतिर्महत्तत्त्वं प्रकृतिश्च सनातनी॥२४॥
The five elements and subtle measures, consciousness, intellect and mind, ego-making, the great principle, and primordial nature—
Passage 25
प्रत्येकं भेदनियतमभिन्नं ब्रह्म सर्वतः। अचलं चैव कूटस्थं भेदाभेदोपयोगि तत्॥२५॥
Each appears fixed in distinction, yet Brahman everywhere remains undivided, unmoving and immutable, the ground upon which both difference and nondifference are spoken.
Passage 26
अवाच्यं सर्वतोऽतीतमुच्चैः स्थानं परं पदम्। तस्याविद्या च महती विद्या चापि तदात्मिका॥२६॥
The supreme station is ineffable, beyond everything, the highest abode. Its great ignorance and its knowledge alike have that reality as their ground.
Passage 27
अविद्यया न जानाति विद्यया वेत्ति तत्परम्। विद्याविद्ये अतिक्रम्य परमं सुखमश्नुते॥२७॥
Through ignorance one does not know it; through knowledge one realizes that supreme. Transcending both knowledge and ignorance, one enjoys the highest bliss.
Passage 28
न यत्र भेदसम्बन्धो नाभेदश्च परस्परम्। न बन्धो यत्र विषमो न मुक्तिश्च समात्मिका॥२८॥
There no relation of difference exists, nor any reciprocal nondifference; there is no unequal bondage and no liberation defined through sameness.
Passage 29
यथा राजा भवेत्कश्चित् समस्ते भूमिमण्डले। स लोके ज्ञायते राजा वाङ्मनोव्यवहारतः॥२९॥
Suppose someone is king over the entire circle of the earth. In the world he is known as king through conventions of speech and mind.
Passage 30
स नित्यं नैव जानाति राजास्मीति निरन्तरम्। एवं स्वरूपं प्राप्तस्य ब्रह्मास्मीति मुहुर्मुहुः॥३०॥
Yet he does not continually think without interruption, “I am king.” Likewise, for one who has attained one's true nature, the repeated thought “I am Brahman”—
Passage 31
चित्तवृत्तिर्नाशमेति तदेव परमं पदम्। क्षीरनीरवदैक्यं स्याल्लवणोदकवत् पुनः। एकमेव च तज्ज्ञानं ज्ञातव्यं मुक्तिमिच्छता॥३१॥
—ceases as a movement of mind. That alone is the supreme state. Unity becomes like milk blended with water or salt dissolved in water. One who seeks liberation must realize this one knowledge alone.
Passage 32
नानाज्ञानानि बालानां प्रबोधाय समन्ततः। निबन्धेषु निबध्यन्ते वस्तुतो नैव तत्र हि॥३२॥ Many different teachings are composed in treatises to awaken beginners on every side; in reality, those distinctions do not exist there at all. **इति श्रीमदादिरामायणे ब्रह्मभुशुण्डसंवादे उत्तरखण्डे श्रीरामात्रेयसंवादे अष्टमोऽध्यायः॥८॥
** Thus ends Chapter Eight in the dialogue of Śrī Rāma and the sage of Atri's line, in the Uttara-khaṇḍa of the glorious Ādi Rāmāyaṇa, in the dialogue of Brahmā and Bhuśuṇḍa.