Friday 5 February 2021

Vairagya Satakam - English Meaning

 (English Translation of Vairagya Satakam - kind contribution of Ms Rajani Arjun Shankar)


1. Shiva, the lamp of wisdom, resides gloriously in the house of the hearts of Yogis.  This lamp shines with the flickering rays of the beautiful moon that has been made a crest-jewel, and glows auguring welfare. It effortlessly burnt the fickle moth called Manmatha. It dispels the dense mass of darkness of infinite delusion germinating in the mind.

2. Those who understand are envious. Those who are rich are corrupted by pride. Others are overpowered by ignorance. So, good speech is digested within (for want of good listeners).

3. The earth’s surface was dug expecting a treasure. The mountain’s minerals were mined. The oceans were crossed and kings pleased with effort. Nights were spent at the cremation ground, with the mind intent on chanting Mantras (which are very effective there). (Despite all these) not a broken shell–coin was gained by me. O Greed! Leave me now.

4. Inaccessible, rugged terrains were roamed about, but with no gain. Giving up rightful pride in (my) birth and lineage, I served (others) to no avail. I ate in strangers’ homes with apprehension, like a crow. O Greed, taking pleasure in sinful deeds! You are unsatisfied as yet and open your mouth wider.

5. The deceitful words of the wicked were tolerated somehow by those (of us) eager to worship them; holding back tears inside and laughing with a vacant mind (was done). The mind was steadied and even salutations were made to those with limited intelligence. O Greed, hoping in vain! Will you make me dance even further now?

6. For the sake of this life, transient like water on lotus-leaf, what has not been done by us who are bereft of discernment? For, in the presence of rich men whose hearts are insensitive due to the arrogance of wealth, even lauding our own virtues was done unabashedly.

7. We endured (slights etc.) but not because of a forgiving nature. We gave up domestic bliss, but not contentedly. The difficulties of extreme heat, cold and winds were suffered, but not as austerities. Day and night, with bated breath, we contemplated on wealth, not on the feet of Shiva. We did all those actions which ascetics perform, but have been deceived of the fruits.

8. It wasn’t pleasures being enjoyed, but we who were devoured. No austerities were practised, yet we were scorched. It wasn’t time that was spent, but it was we who were spent . Desire has not withered, but we have wasted away.

9. The face is covered with wrinkles; the head is marked by grey hair; the limbs have become infirm. Desire alone remains youthful.

10. The desire for pleasures has vanished. The manly pride has disappeared.  Friends of the same age, dear as life, have reached heaven. Getting up is slow and with a staff. The eyes are blinded by dense darkness. Alas! Yet the insubordinate body trembles at the danger posed by death.

11. Desire is, indeed, a river, with the objects of desire for its water, agitated by the waves in the form of hankerings, having for sharks the passions, and for birds the misgivings (of the heart), destroying the tree of fortitude, difficult to cross on account of eddies in the form of infatuation, very deep and having anxiety for its steep (lit. high) banks; the great ascetics of pure heart, who have crossed it (the river), enjoy felicity.

12. I do not expect the course of life in this world to turn out happy; the result of meritorious deeds inspires me with fear as I contemplate it; for, enjoyments, long experienced in return for accumulated stores of merit, assume mighty proportions to make the enjoyer miserable, as it were.

13. Even after remaining with one for a long time pleasures must needs vanish. What more is there in pleasures tearing themselves off from one, that one does not of one’s own accord relinquish them? When vanishing of their own accord, they end in keen anguish for the mind; but when relinquished by one’s own will, they produce infinite happiness proceeding from tranquility.

14. Those, who, by the knowledge of Brahman, have acquired discrimination and possess a refined intellect, do what is hard to do, in that they renounce riches even such as contribute to pleasures, being absolutely unselfish: (these) were neither obtained before, nor are they now; nor is there any certainty (lit. firm belief,) as to their attainment; and still we are not able to renounce them, although their possession (lit. desire) is only a matter of imagination.

15. Of the blessed persons who dwell in the caves of mountains and contemplate the Supreme Light, birds drink the tears of delight, fearlessly resting on their laps: our life on the other hand, is being wasted, (as) we enjoy the delight of sports in the pleasure gardens adjoining the walls of mansions reared up by our imagination.

16. Alas! the mind does not give up (its longing) for carnal pleasures even when one has to eat food obtained by begging, and that too unsubstantial and once (only in a day); when one has the earth for a couch, and only one’s self for an attendant, and when one’s raiment is a wallet of a hundred threadbare rags (stitched together).

17. The breasts which are fleshy protuberances are compared to golden jars; the mouth which is the receptacle of phlegm is likened to the moon; the hips ------(are described as) rivalling the head of an elephant king. Mark how the despicable form (of a woman) has been heightened (cried up) by a certain class of poets.

18. Among passionate persons stands conspicuous Siva alone, who took for himself half the body of his beloved, (and yet) to whom there is none superior among passion-renouncing men, as one who has given up his attachment to women; the rest of the people, smitten with the poison of the cobra-like and irresistible shafts of love, and therefore maddened, are able neither to enjoy nor to reject pleasures, which are rendered (mere) objects of mockery by the God of Love.

19. Let a moth fall upon the flame of a lamp not knowing its power; let the fish through ignorance bite the baited flesh; but even we that know better do not give up sensual objects which are complicated with a net of difficulties. Alas! how mysterious is the influence of infatuation!

20. The removal of pain man wrongly considers as happiness itself – when the mouth is parched with thirst, he drinks sweet and fragrant water; when oppressed with hunger, he swallows rice mixed with vegetable and other condiments: and when the fire of love is kindled he clasps his wife closely.

21. A tall mansion, children appreciated by good people, countless treasures, a caring wife and youthful age: seeing these, a man deluded by ignorance, considering the world permanent, enters the prison of worldly life. The blessed man, realizing that all these are momentary, renounces them.

22. If he did not see his poor wife, emaciated without food, with hungry, crying children with pitiable faces tugging at her worn-out garment, which self-respecting man would, for the sake of the accursed stomach, seek charity with words broken or partly swallowed in the throat, choking due to fear of rejection of his request.

23. The pot that is the stomach, impossible to fill, mocks at us. It is skilled at cutting the knot of high dignity, that is held dear. It is the clear, bright moonlight to the lotuses of superior virtues (causing them to wilt). It is the axe lopping the creeper of modesty that grows thickly.

24. Fortunate is the self-respecting man who, living in a holy city or big forest, whose environs are greyed with the smoke of the fire worshipped by Brahmins filled with righteousness, goes door to door to fill the pit of his stomach when hungry, taking a begging bowl covered with white cloth. But a poor man living everyday amidst those of equal rank, is not so (fortunate).

25. Are the abodes in the Himalayas, cool with the spray from the waves of Ganga, with delightful slabs of rocks where Vidyadharas reside, become extinct, that men are attached to food given by others along with insults.

26 Have tubers become extinct in mountain caves, or streams from mountains? Have branches bearing juicy fruits and covered with bark (which can be worn), perished entirely from trees, that the faces of evil men whose civility has left them and whose creeper-like eyebrows sway with the wind of pride at hard-earned meager wealth, are looked upon earnestly.

27. Arise, dear friend, let us go to the forest, where there is not even a mention of the names of rich and powerful people, who are petty, whose minds are deluded with lack of discernment, and whose speech is slurred due to the effect of the disease called wealth. Take up now the desirable way of living with holy fruits and roots, sleeping on the ground and wearing fresh barks – all plentifully there.

28. Fruits of trees can be obtained in every forest easily, when one wishes. At every place there is cool, sweet water of sacred rivers available and so is a bed made of delicate tender leaves of creepers, soft to the touch. Even so, petty men endure suffering at the doorstep of the rich.

29. In the breaks of my meditation, seated on the stone-bed in the cave of a mountain, with a smile blossoming inside, I think of those days which seemed long to (me who was) a person undergoing the suffering of making entreaties before the wealthy, and which seemed short to (me) the person whose mind is caught and tossed about by desire for sense pleasures.

30. The happiness of those always rejoicing in contentment, is not broken (by it). The desire of others, whose minds are agitated by greed for wealth, has not been quenched (by it). Thus, to what purpose was such an abode of wealth made by the creator? Meru, the glory of whose gold serves only itself, does not appeal to me.

31. The food got by begging causes no indignity, is independent, removes fear, destroys envy, arrogance and desire, and annihilates a flood of sorrows. It is available with no effort everywhere, every day, is preferred by good people and is pure. Great Yogis laud it as the charity house of Shiva, with inexhaustible store and denied to none.

32. Fear of disease lurks in enjoyment of pleasures, fear of a fall from grace, in noble birth. Wealth is closely followed by fear of the king, self-respect by fear of poverty and power by fear of enemies. Beauty brings about fear of old age and learning brings the fear of debates (and defeat). Virtue results in fear of the wicked, and the body has the fear of death. Every object in this world is beset with fear. Only renunciation of desires causes fearlessness.

33. Birth is affected by death and sparkling youth with old age. Contentment is overrun by greed and the bliss of quietude by the attractions of young women. Virtues are troubled by ill-natured people. Forests are infested with serpents (and other wild beasts) and kings with wicked people. Glories are afflicted by impermanence. What is not under the grip of some other thing?

34. The health of a man is eroded by hundreds of mental and physical afflictions. Where there is wealth, calamities rush in as if the doors are opened (for them). Death quickly and certainly claims every helpless creature as its own. What then has been created by the unrestrained Creator to be stable?

35. Pleasures are ephemeral like the breaking of tall waves. Life can be destroyed in a second. The joy of youth lasts only a few days. Affection for loved ones is unsteady. Thus seeing the whole of worldly existence to be meaningless, O wise teachers, with minds that softened with (the intent of) bestowing welfare upon the world, devote (your) efforts (to enlighten people accordingly).

36. To all embodied creatures, enjoyments of sense pleasures are fickle like flashes of lightning amidst the canopy of clouds. Their life is unstable like water clinging to the row of clouds buffeted by the wind. Indulgence of youth is transient. O wise men! Reckoning these, swiftly apply your minds to oneness (with the divine) which is easy to attain with steadfastness and meditation.

37. Life is ever-moving like a wave. The beauty of youth stays but a few days. Wealth is fleeting like thoughts, and the multitude of pleasures are like the flashes of lightning during the rains. Even the embrace given by the beloved does not remain for long. Let your minds be affixed on the Brahman, to cross over to the shores of the ocean of fear from worldly existence.

38. With bodies constricted, men have to remain in the womb with difficulty amidst impurities. In youth, enjoyment is difficult due to the misfortune of separation from the beloved. Surely old age is disagreeable, since the contempt of women is evident. Oh men! Pray tell me if there is even an iota of happiness in this world.

39. Old age stands (ready to pounce) like a tigress. Diseases, like enemies, attack the body. Lifespan ebbs away like water from a broken pot. It is a wonder that men still practise what is improper.

40. The many pleasures are temporary in nature, yet worldly life is made up only of them. So to what end do you wander about, O men? Enough of your (aimless) activities! If you have faith in our words, let the mind, made pure by cessation of desires and attachments, be established in its own (inner) abode, when desires have been uprooted.

41. That indescribable pleasure shines as supreme and eternal, abiding in which, one considers even (the gods like) Brahma, Indra and the Maruts to be blades of grass, savouring which, even powers like sovereignty of the three worlds become tasteless.  O Good man, do not hanker after other pleasures, which are transient.

42. That charming city, the great king, the circle of vassals, that assembly of scholars and those beautiful ladies with moon-like faces, that group of haughty princes, the bards and their narratives : salutations to Time, by whose power, all this is reduced to memories.

43. Where in a single house (or square) there were many, there is only one; where there was one, later there were many and none finally : in this manner, rolling day and night as if they were two dice, Kala (Time) plays with his wife Kali, on the gameboard of the world, with the living beings as pawns.

44. With the setting and rising of the sun, every day, life becomes shorter; the (passage of) time in not realized due to one’s daily affairs, with the pressing burden of many activities; even after seeing birth, old age, calamities and death, no fear is born; the world is rendered senseless, having drunk the intoxicating wine of delusion.

45. Thinking that it is the same night and the same day again and again, ignorant beings run about, engaged in various activities started with secret resolves. In this manner, with affairs of (merely) repetitive sense pleasures, we are belittled by worldly life, but how indeed, due to delusion, are we not ashamed!

46. The feet of the Lord were not contemplated (by us) for severing the worldly bonds. Religious merit, capable of throwing open the doors of heaven, was not acquired. Even in our dreams, the well-endowed forms of beautiful women were not embraced. We have simply been the axes that cut down the forest of youth of our mother.

47. Learning that can subdue an assembly of debaters, was not acquired. Fame was not raised to the heavens, with the sword’s edge that breaks open the forehead of (enemy) elephants. The nectar of the tender shoot-like lip of the beloved was not partaken of, at moonrise. Alas! Like a lamp in an unoccupied house, youth has passed away without purpose.

48. Learning that is blemish-free was not obtained; wealth was not earned; service to parents, with an attentive mind, was not secured; young women with tremulous, long eyes were not embraced even in dreams. All this time has been spent craving for food from others, like crows.

49. Those from whom we were born, are long gone. Those who grew up together (with us), have reached a state where they are only to be remembered. Now, here we are, our fall drawing closer, sharing the same state as that of trees on the sandy banks of a river.

50. The lifespan of men is limited to a hundred years. Half of it is spent as night. Of the remaining half, one half goes in childhood and old age and the rest is spent in servitude etc., along with sorrows due to disease and separation. In this life that is more capricious than the waves in water, where is there any happiness for living beings?

51. For an instant, he plays a child, and in another, a youth delighting in love; in one moment he is bereft of wealth, and in another, full of riches. Like an actor, at the end of worldly existence, a man steps behind the curtains of Yama’s abode, his limbs worn out with age, and his body adorned with wrinkles.

52. O One who subjugates enemies! You are the king, while we stand tall in the pride of the enlightenment obtained by serving the master. You are celebrated for your powers, while poets spread our fame in all directions. Thus, there isn’t much of a difference between us. If you are indifferent to us, we too are completely free of desire (of any favour from you).

53. You rule over riches, and we too over words with their meanings. You are brave, while we have infinite expertise in the act of checking the feverish pride of debaters. Rich men serve you, while those eager to listen (to my teachings) serve me, to rid themselves of the impurities of the heart. If you have no regard for me, it is more so for me. Here I leave, O King!

54. Here we are content with bark garments, and you with silks. The contentment is the same and so, the difference (between us) is insignificant. He whose desire is vast, may be called poor. When the mind is content, who is rich and who is poor?

55. Sweet fruits are enough to eat, and water to drink.  The surface of the earth is the bed, while tree-barks are garments. I cannot bear to allow the impropriety of wicked men whose senses are all agitated by drinking the wine of new riches.

56. We subsist on alms, wear the directions as garments and recline on the earth’s surface. What do we have to do with kings?

57. We are not actors, jesters or singers. Nor those whose minds are set on harming others, or well-endowed women. What place do we have in a king’s palace?

58. The world was created in earlier times by some large-hearted blessed ones; it was protected by others, and conquered and then given away by others, as it were a blade of grass. Again, there are others here, who lord over the fourteen worlds. What indeed is this feverish haughtiness of men having obtained kingship over a few towns?

59. What pride is there to kings, in gaining some part of earth, which has not been left unenjoyed even for a second, by hundreds of kings? Ignorant ones who become lords of a fraction of a fraction of a small part of it, rejoice when they should feel dejected.

60. The earth is a clod of mud surrounded by water. It is but an atom (in the universe). It is enjoyed by multitudes of kings after gaining it with hundreds of battles. Those mean, poor kings may or may not give anything. Fie then upon those lowly men who desire from them, even a small measure of wealth.

61. He alone is born (i.e. his birth is fruitful) whose white skull was placed as an ornament, high on His head, by Shiva. What indeed is this unequalled feverish pride in men, now that a few people, intent on saving their lives, supplicate to them.

62. Alas, O heart! Why do you enter a thicket of sorrow, propitiating and pleasing minds of others in many ways, day after day ? When you are inwardly tranquil, with the qualities of the Chintamani gem arising in you by themselves, will not your resolve, free (from desire), satisfy all your wishes?

63. O Mind! Why do you wander in vain? Rest somewhere. Whatever happens by itself, will happen that way, and not any other. Not remembering the past and not making plans for the future, enjoy the pleasures whose coming and going are unexpected.

64. O Mind! Desist from the maze of sense objects, which are tiresome. Reach the path of welfare, that is adept at removing all sorrows in a trice. Giving us your movement that is fickle as a wave, take up a peaceful stance. Do not again seek enjoyment in this transient worldly existence. Be tranquil now!

65. O Mind! Wipe away delusion. Acquire that (supreme) devotion towards Shiva. Embrace residence in the banks of the divine river, Ganga. What faith can one have in waves, bubbles, flashes of lightning, women, the tips of flames, snakes and the currents of rivers?

66. O Mind! Do not think at all, of Lakshmi, the fickle one, with hope. She is a venal woman who tends to sport in the house that is the frown of kings. Clad in rags, entering the gates of the houses in the streets of Varanasi, we shall seek alms falling in the vessel of our palms.

67. O Mind! Music before you, charming poets from the South beside you, and the playful tinkling of the bracelets of women holding flywhisks behind you- if it is so, you may desire to enjoy worldly pleasures. If not, enter into the highest state of contemplation of the Brahman, immediately.

68. If riches that grant all desires are obtained, what thence? What if one’s foot  is placed on the heads of foes? What thence, once all one’s favoured people are honoured with riches? If mortals could remain with their bodies for an entire Kalpa, what then? (What permanent good is gained from wealth, victory, charity and longevity?)

69. Devotion to Shiva, fear of (repeated) birth and death in the heart, lack of attachment to relatives, absence of agitations caused by Manmatha, a secluded forest free of defects of social contact and detachment :  What more is to be desired than these?

70. Therefore, meditate on the Brahman, that is infinite, ageless, supreme and resplendent. What is the use of false notions? To one associated with the Brahman, all pleasures from sovereignty onwards, are considered to be aspirations of petty people.

71. O Mind! With your fleeting nature, you enter the netherworld, you traverse the sky and wander around all the directions. How is it that, even by mistake, you do not remember that Supreme Being, beneficial to oneself, by which you can attain fulfillment.

72.  Of what avail are the Vedas, Smrtis, reading of Puranas, and the Shastras of vast elaboration? What is the use of ritualistic actions that delude us, and procure a hut to dwell in the village called heaven? Apart from that one attainment of the state of bliss in the self, which is the apocalyptic fire to the sorrows created by the bondages of worldly existence, the rest are mere trading activities.

73. When the glorious Meru falls, struck by the apocalyptic fire, when oceans, homes to multitudes of sharks and alligators, dry up and when the earth supported by the feet of mountains, reaches her end, what is to be said about the body, that is as unsteady as tip of a calf elephant’s ear?

74. (In old age) the body is shrunk, the gait falters, the row of teeth has fallen off, vision is lost, deafness increases, and the mouth slavers. His family disregards his words and his wife does not serve him; alas! Even his son turns hostile towards the aged man.

75. Seeing the white colour of the hair on the head of men, the sight of disgrace caused by old age, young ladies go away leaving them afar, as they would a well used by outcastes, mounted with pieces of bones.

76. While the body is healthy and  free of ailments, while old age is far away, while the power of the senses is unaffected, while life is not yet in decline, an intelligent person should take great efforts for his spiritual welfare then. Of what use is the attempt to dig a well, when the house is ablaze?

77. Shall we reside by the Ganga, practicing penance, or attend submissively upon a wife who is filled with virtues? Shall we drink from the flood of Shastras, or the nectar-like essence of various poetic works? Given that man has a lifespan that is just a few moments, we do not know what to do.

78. These kings, with minds as fleeting as horses, are hard to please; but we have huge desires, and minds set on high positions. Old age and death covet the body and dear life respectively. O friend! There is nothing apart from penance that can confer welfare to a wise one in this world.

79. When pride fades, wealth is reduced, alms-seekers are turned back with nothing, relatives have diminished, servants have left and youth has slowly ebbed away, this is the only right thing for wise people to do : reside somewhere in an alcove of a cave, in a mountain whose rocks are purified by the waters of the Ganga.

80. Charming are the rays of the moon; charming is the grassy clearing in the forest; the joy of association with good people and friends is delightful; the narratives in poetic works are delightful; the face of the beloved agitated by teardrops caused by anger, is beautiful. All these are enjoyable, but nothing is so when the mind has realized (their) impermanence.

81. Is a palace not delightful to reside in? Are not music etc. pleasant to hear? Is not the joy of the company of one’s wife, dear as life, cause for much pleasure? But considering all these to be as fickle as the shadow of the small flame, that is flickering in the wind raised by the wings of the moth falling excitedly upon it, great men have (left these and) gone away to the forest.

82. O friend! Even while searching the three worlds, from the time the worldly existence began, such a person has not come within our sight or hearing, who has the capacity to fetter the mind-elephant, mad with deep attachment to the she-elephant of sense pleasures.

83. This wandering at will, this meal free of pitiful situations, living in the company of noble people, learning whose single fruit is the vow of self-restraint, a mind that is slow to stir out – even after reflecting for long, I know not what great penance has resulted in these.

84. Desires have worn away in the heart; that youth (when those desires were fresh) is gone. Alas! The virtues in our limbs have become fruitless, due to lack of those who appreciate them. The mighty, unforgiving Yama, causing the end, shall come suddenly. What is proper now? Ah, it is known (to me) – there is no other refuge, except the twin-feet of Shiva, the lord who punished Manmatha.

85. Between Mahesvara, the Lord of the worlds and Janardana, the in-dwelling spirit of the universe, I have no conception of any difference; still, my devotion is unto Him whose crest-jewel is the crescent moon.

86. Seated at ease on the sandy bank of the celestial river Ganga, that shines white in the bright, abundant moonlight, in the nights with quietened sounds, when shall we, repelled by the vastness of worldly existense, loudly chanting the name of Shiva, have eyes overflowing with copious tears born of joy ?

87. Having donated all wealth, with hearts filled with tender compassion, recalling the courses of fate, that result in worthless ends in the worldly existence, we shall spend nights filled with the autumn full moon’s rays, in some sacred forest, meditating on the feet of Shiva being our only recourse.

88. When shall I, dwelling on the banks of the divine river in Varanasi, pass days as if there were seconds, wearing only a loin-cloth, my hands folded above the head, crying out “ O Shambhu, Lord of Gauri ! O Destroyer of the three cities ! O Three-eyed one! Be pleased! “.

89. O Lord, destroyer of Manmatha! Bathing in the waters of the Ganga, worshipping you with pure flowers and fruits, fixing my mind on the thing worth contemplating (i.e. you) on a bed of stone in a mountain cave, abiding blissfully in the self, living on fruits, delighting in the words of my master, when shall I, with your grace, give up the sorrow born of servitude to a rich man, whose feet carry the Makara sign (of prosperity)?

90. O Sambhu, when shall I, living all alone, devoid of desires, peaceful, and having for only my hand as a vessel (to beg) and the quarters as clothing, be able to root out Karma?

91. The indescribable path (to salvation), easily attainable with the grace of Shiva, opens up to Yogis, whose hands serve as vessels, who are content with begged food which is naturally pure, who sit anywhere, who constantly look at world as if it was a lot of grass, and who have reached the experience of infinite, great bliss, even without giving up the body.

92. The loincloth that is frayed in a hundred places; a garment that’s similar, food obtained by begging, that is free from worry and dependence, sleep in a cremation ground; a mind that is very pure, treating friend and foe alike: with these, a Yogi stays happily in a place devoid of people, rejoicing that all pride and errors are destroyed.

93. Will this small circle of universe cause any desire in one who has conquered his mind? Will the ocean become agitated with the quivering of a tiny fish?

94. Mother Lakshmi! Seek someone else, and do not be inclined towards me. We are not desirous of pleasures, and who are you to desireless people (you are nobody)? We wish only for subsistence with coarse meals got by begging, made holy by placing in a vessel of stitched Palasha leaves.

95. With the earth being an agreeable bed, the creeper-like arm a large pillow, the sky as canopy, the favourable breeze being a fan, the moon being a lustrous lamp, rejoicing with detachment as his wife, with plenty of ash smeared on himself, the ascetic sleeps happily and peacefully, like a king who has enormous wealth.

96.  There could be a (rare) Yogi , living by begging, free of attachment even amidst people, with restrained movements, practising the path that is devoid of giving and taking, wearing a frayed garment made of discarded torn clothes in the streets, bereft of pride and ego, wanting only the vast bliss of tranquility.

97. “Is he an outcaste? A twice-born? One of the fourth caste? Is he an ascetic or a most eminent Yogi, with an intellect capable of discerning the truth?” – discussed thus by people, talking glibly due to speculations arising (in their minds), the Yogis go their way, neither irked nor pleased at heart.

98.  Air has been ordained by the Creator as food for serpents, that is got without effort and violence. Cattle eat grass and lie upon the (bare) earth. Such a way of living is made (available) to people with the intellectual capability to cross the ocean of worldly existence, seeking which, all natural attributes reach an end (being transcended).

99. When will those blessed days be experienced by me, where old deer fearlessly rub their bodies on mine (to relieve their itch), as I go into a Yogic trance with the practice of meditation on the Supreme Being, seated in Padmasana, on a rock of the Himalayas on the banks of the Ganga?

100. The blessed ones, who have renounced the multitude of actions resulting from inner poverty, who are content within themselves as a result of accepting solitude, whose hands serve as a sacred bowl, whose food is the undiminishing alms obained while wandering, whose clothes are the vast ten directions and whose pure, spacious bed is the earth, (they) root out Karma (thus ending the cycle of births)

101. O Mother Earth! O Wind, my Father! O Fire, my friend! O Water, my good relative! O Sky, my Brother!  Here is my final salutation to you, with joined palms. Your association has led to abundant merits, resulting from which, shining pure knowledge has swept away the entire might of delusion. I now unite with the Supreme Being.

 

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