Passage 1
श्रीराम उवाच— सत्त्वं रजस्तमश्चैव त्रिगुणाः परिकीर्तिताः। पुरुषः प्रकृतिश्चैव महांश्चाहङ्कृतिस्तथा॥१॥
Śrī Rāma said: Sattva, rajas, and tamas are declared to be the three guṇas. There are also puruṣa, prakṛti, the great principle, and egoity.
Passage 2
शब्दस्पर्शौ रूपरसौ गन्धो मात्राश्च पञ्चकाः। खं वायुर्ज्योतिरापो भूः पञ्चभूतानि च क्रमात्॥२॥
Sound, touch, form, taste, and smell are the five subtle qualities. Space, air, fire, water, and earth are the five elements in their order.
Passage 3
ज्ञानेन्द्रियाणि पञ्चैव श्रोत्रत्वग्घ्राणदृग्रसाः। पञ्च कर्मेन्द्रियाण्येव वाग्दोर्मेढ्राङ्घ्रिपायवः॥३॥
The five faculties of knowledge are hearing, touch, smell, sight, and taste. The five faculties of action are speech, the arms, the generative organ, the feet, and the organ of evacuation.
Passage 4
तथैव सर्वसंयोगिषड्ज्ञानकरणं मनः। आध्यात्मिकस्तु यो वर्गः सोऽसावेवाधिदैविकः॥४॥
Mind, which coordinates them all, is likewise the sixth instrument of knowledge. The same group that functions on the level of the individual also functions on the divine level.
Passage 5
आधिभौतिकवर्गश्चैकत्रैव प्रतिष्ठितः। मदंशाधिष्ठिताः सर्वे भासन्तेऽमी प्रदीपवत्॥५॥
The corresponding material group is established together with them. All these principles shine like lamps because portions of my power preside over them.
Passage 6
माया गुणानां सम्भेदादेकैव बहुरूपिणी। कालस्तु भगवान् साक्षान्मद्रूपो नित्य एव सः॥६॥
Māyā is one, yet assumes many forms through the differentiation of the guṇas. Time, however, is directly the divine Lord—my own eternal form.
Passage 7
सूत्रं चैव महान् प्राणो बुद्धिश्चाहंस्वरूपिणी। परमात्मा च सर्वाद्यः प्रकृतिः पुरुषस्तथा॥७॥
The cosmic thread, the great vital force, intelligence, and the principle of “I,” as well as the Supreme Self who precedes all, are spoken of as prakṛti and puruṣa.
Passage 8
एक एव द्विधा जातस्तदेवाक्षरमुच्यते। मद्रूपः परमानन्दस्तिरोभूयात्र तिष्ठति॥८॥
The one becomes twofold, and that is called the Imperishable. My own form of supreme bliss remains concealed within it.
Passage 9
सत्त्वस्य व्यवधानेन मुख्यजीवः स ईरितः। सृष्ट्युच्छ्वासवशगोभूतः सोऽहमेव न संशयः॥९॥
When veiled by sattva it is called the principal living being. Though subject to the breathing forth of creation, that being is none other than I—there is no doubt.
Passage 10
अयमेव च कूटस्थो ब्रह्माव्यक्तादिशब्दितः। अण्डानि कोटिशस्तस्य प्रतिष्ठन्ति विग्रहे॥१०॥
This is also the immutable principle called Brahman, the Unmanifest, and by other names. Tens of millions of cosmic eggs abide within its body.
Passage 11
अक्षरं ब्रह्म तद्धाम ममैव ज्ञानिनां गतिः। अहं प्रभुर्भक्तिगम्यो मम लोकोऽयमक्षरः॥११॥
That imperishable Brahman is my realm and the destination of contemplatives. I am the Lord attained through devotion, and this imperishable domain is my world.
Passage 12
पादो मे सर्वभूतानि त्रिपाद् ब्रह्मेदमक्षरम्। ब्राह्मणश्च ममांशोऽस्य परस्य पुच्छमुच्यते॥१२॥
All beings are one quarter of me; this imperishable Brahman is the three-quarter reality. Brahman is my portion and is described as the supporting culmination of the Supreme.
Passage 13
ज्ञानात्तस्योपासनया तन्मयो जायते नरः। भक्त्या ममोपासनया मन्मयो भवति ध्रुवम्॥१३॥
Through knowledge and worship of that imperishable reality, a person becomes one with it. Through devotion and worship of me, one certainly becomes filled with me.
Passage 14
एतदेव ज्ञानमार्गे सेव्यमक्षरमुत्तमम्। अहं ततोऽधिको ज्ञेयः पूर्णानन्दैकविग्रहः॥१४॥
This supreme Imperishable is the object to be cultivated on the path of knowledge. I should be known as higher still—the single embodiment of complete bliss.
Passage 15
चिदानन्दौ तिरोभाव्य सत्त्वांशव्यक्तिमात्रतः। रूपान्तरं चाक्षरस्य कालः सकलसम्भवः॥१५॥
Concealing consciousness and bliss and manifesting only a portion of sattva, Time arises as another form of the Imperishable and as the source of the whole cosmos.
Passage 16
तत्र नित्या क्रियाशक्तिः प्राधान्येन प्रतिष्ठिता। सर्वोत्पत्त्यन्तकरणी चिच्छक्तिविकृतिः स्फुटम्॥१६॥
Within Time, the eternal power of action is established in predominance. Clearly, it is a transformation of conscious power that brings about the origin and end of everything.
Passage 17
काले पुनर्यदैश्वर्यं तन्ममैव न संशयः। अत एवेश्वरः कालः सर्वस्यान्तर एव च॥१७॥
Whatever sovereign power exists in Time is mine alone—there is no doubt. Time is therefore the ruler and dwells within everything.
Passage 18
आसुरस्तमुपासीत कालरूपं मदात्मकम्। तत्रैव लीनतां गच्छेन्महातमसि भीषणे॥१८॥
A person of demonic disposition worships that form of Time as if it were my complete reality and is dissolved there, within terrifying and immense darkness.
Passage 19
ममाधिकारिणां मुख्यः काल एव न संशयः। यथाहं साम्यवैषम्यात्तथासौ फलदायकः॥१९॥
Time is unquestionably the chief executor among my governing powers. According to equilibrium and imbalance, it bestows results just as I do.
Passage 20
तद्भेदाः सूर्यगतय आधिभौतिकरूपकाः। एवमेव भवेत्कर्म मद्रूपं नियतं फले॥२०॥
Its divisions are the courses of the sun expressed in material form. Action likewise is my form, fixed in the results it brings.
Passage 21
अग्रपश्चाद्भावभेदाद् द्विधैव प्रकटं च तत्। एवं स्वभावोऽपि भवेन्मत्तनुः सर्ववस्तुगः॥२१॥
Action manifests twofold through the distinction of prior and subsequent states. Inherent nature likewise is my body and pervades every object.
Passage 22
आविर्भावतिरोभावैः परिणामस्तु तत्कृतः। अक्षरं वासुदेवश्च कालः सङ्कर्षणो हि वै॥२२॥
Transformation is produced by inherent nature through manifestation and concealment. The Imperishable is Vāsudeva, while Time is Saṅkarṣaṇa.
Passage 23
कर्म प्रद्युम्न एवास्ति स्वभावश्चानिरुद्धकः। एवं चतुर्व्यूहतनुः प्रकटः सर्वो ममांशतः॥२३॥
Action is Pradyumna, and inherent nature is Aniruddha. Thus the complete body of the four vyūhas manifests from portions of me.
Passage 24
अष्टाविंशतिरेव स्युस्तत्त्वानि मेकलक्षतः। तद्रूपं विधिना ज्ञेयं ममसायुज्यसिद्धये॥२४॥ The principles are thus twenty-eight and are to be comprehended together as my manifestation. One should know that form methodically in order to attain union with me. Source note: The edition tightly prints the middle of the first line as तत्त्वानि मेकलक्षतः. Its governing claim is clear from the chapter's completed enumeration of twenty-eight principles; the English does not impose an uncertain internal division on the compact expression. **इति श्रीमदादिरामायणे ब्रह्मभुशुण्डसंवादे उत्तरखण्डे श्रीरामात्रेयसंवादे आत्रेयबोधितश्रीरामगीतायामेकोनविंशोऽध्यायः॥१९॥
** Thus ends Chapter Nineteen of the Śrī Rāma Gītā taught in response to Ātreya, within 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.