Panchashikha Wins Janaka from His Hundred Teachers

Verse 1 (12.220.1)

केन वृत्तेन वृत्तज्ञो जनको मिथिलाधिपः । जगाम मोक्षं धर्मज्ञो भोगानुत्सृज्य बुद्धिमान् ॥

kena vṛttena vṛttajño janako mithilādhipaḥ | jagāma mokṣaṃ dharmajño bhogānutsṛjya buddhimān

By what conduct did Janaka, lord of Mithila, who knew right conduct and dharma and was wise, give up pleasures and go to liberation?

Verse 2 (12.220.2)

अत्राप्युदाहरन्तीममितिहासं पुरातनम् । येन वृत्तेन धर्मज्ञः स जगाम महत्सुखम् ॥

atrāpyudāharantīmamitihāsaṃ purātanam | yena vṛttena dharmajñaḥ sa jagāma mahatsukham

On this point they recall this ancient tale, of the conduct by which that knower of dharma attained great happiness.

Verse 3 (12.220.3)

जनको जनदेवस्तु मिथिलायां जनाधिप । और्ध्वदेहिकधर्माणामासीद्युक्तो विचिन्तने ॥

janako janadevastu mithilāyāṃ janādhipa | aurdhvadehikadharmāṇāmāsīdyukto vicintane

O lord of men, Janaka, called Janadeva, of Mithila, was devoted to reflecting on the duties that concern what lies beyond this bodily life.

Verse 4 (12.220.4)

तस्य स्म शतमाचार्या वसन्ति सततं गृहे । दर्शयन्तः पृथग्धर्मान्नानापाषण्डवादिनः ॥

tasya sma śatamācāryā vasanti satataṃ gṛhe | darśayantaḥ pṛthagdharmānnānāpāṣaṇḍavādinaḥ

A hundred teachers lived constantly in his house, each setting forth a different dharma, advocates of many heterodox schools.

Verse 5 (12.220.5)

स तेषां प्रेत्यभावेन प्रेत्य जातौ विनिश्चये । आगमस्थः स भूयिष्ठमात्मतत्त्वे न तुष्यति ॥

sa teṣāṃ pretyabhāvena pretya jātau viniścaye | āgamasthaḥ sa bhūyiṣṭhamātmatattve na tuṣyati

Concerning the state after death, rebirth after death, and the settled conclusion on these, he, relying on the scriptures, was for the most part not satisfied with their account of the truth of the self.

Note on the text: Corrected गातौ → जातौ (misprint in Wikisource; ग for ज; CE pretyajātau) and आत्मतत्त्वेन तुष्यन्ति → आत्मतत्त्वे न तुष्यति (misprint in Wikisource; the न is dropped and the verb is in the wrong number, which reverses the sense; CE ātmatattve na tuṣyati).

Verse 6 (12.220.6)

तत्र पञ्चशिखो नाम कापिलेयो महामुनिः । परिधावन्महीं कृत्स्नां जगाम मिथिलामपि ॥

tatra pañcaśikho nāma kāpileyo mahāmuniḥ | paridhāvanmahīṃ kṛtsnāṃ jagāma mithilāmapi

There the great sage Panchashikha, son of Kapila, wandering over the whole earth, came even to Mithila.

Note on the text: Corrected यलामथ → मिथिलामपि (misprint in Wikisource; not a word; CE mithilām api).

Verse 7 (12.220.7)

सर्वसंन्यासधर्माणां तत्त्वज्ञाननिश्चये । सुपर्यवसितार्थश्च निर्द्वन्द्वो नष्टसंशयः ॥

sarvasaṃnyāsadharmāṇāṃ tattvajñānaniścaye | suparyavasitārthaśca nirdvandvo naṣṭasaṃśayaḥ

He had fully reached the goal in the settled knowledge of reality, in all the duties of renunciation; he was free from the pairs of opposites and his doubts were gone.

Note on the text: Corrected नष्टगशयः → नष्टसंशयः (misprint in Wikisource; not a word; CE naṣṭasaṃśayaḥ).

Verse 8 (12.220.8)

ऋषीणामाहुरेकं यं कामादवसितं नृषु । शाश्वतं सुखमत्यन्तमन्विच्छन् स सुदुर्लभम् ॥

ṛṣīṇāmāhurekaṃ yaṃ kāmādavasitaṃ nṛṣu | śāśvataṃ sukhamatyantamanvicchan sa sudurlabham

Among the sages they speak of him as the one who lived among men at his own will, seeking happiness that is eternal and complete, and very hard to find.

Note on the text: Restored from the critical edition (12.211.8): Wikisource prints gaps in both lines (कामाद-----नृषु, मन्वि---सुदुर्लभम्); filled with अवसितं and च्छन् स from CE kāmād avasitaṃ nṛṣu / śāśvataṃ sukham atyantam anvicchan sa sudurlabham.

Verse 9 (12.220.9)

यमाहुः कपिलं साङ्ख्याः परमर्षिं प्रजापतिम् । समेत्य तेन रूपेण विस्मापयति हि स्वयम् ॥

yamāhuḥ kapilaṃ sāṅkhyāḥ paramarṣiṃ prajāpatim | sametya tena rūpeṇa vismāpayati hi svayam

The Sankhyas call Kapila the supreme seer and Prajapati; meeting people in that same form, he himself would fill them with wonder.

Note on the text: Corrected परमर्षि → परमर्षिं (misprint in Wikisource; anusvara dropped; CE paramarṣiṃ). Line 2 (समेत्य … ) against CE sa manye is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 10 (12.220.10)

आसुरेः प्रथमं शिष्यं यमाहुश्चिरजीविनम् । पञ्चस्रोतसि यः सत्रमास्ते वर्षसहस्रिकम् ॥

āsureḥ prathamaṃ śiṣyaṃ yamāhuścirajīvinam | pañcasrotasi yaḥ satramāste varṣasahasrikam

They say he was the first disciple of Asuri, long-lived, who sat at a sacrificial session at Panchasrotas for a thousand years.

Verse 11 (12.220.11)

तमासीनं समागम्य कापिलं मण्डलं महत् । पञ्चस्रोतसि निष्णातः पञ्चरात्रविशारदः ॥

tamāsīnaṃ samāgamya kāpilaṃ maṇḍalaṃ mahat | pañcasrotasi niṣṇātaḥ pañcarātraviśāradaḥ

Approaching him as he sat in the great assembly of Kapila's followers, one who was learned in the Panchasrotas and skilled in the Pancharatra,

Note on the text: Removed the square bracket Wikisource prints before line 2 (it opens a bracketed passage, closed in the next verse, that marks the lines as an interpolation). Line 1 = CE 12.211.11a; line 2 is the CE star line 12.211.11b*0612_01 (pañcasrotasi niṣṇātaḥ pañcarātraviśāradaḥ). The alignment found no match.

Verse 12 (12.220.12)

पञ्चज्ञः पञ्चकृत्पञ्चगुणः पञ्चशिखः स्मृतः । पुरुषावस्थमव्यक्तं परमार्थं न्यवेदयत् ॥

pañcajñaḥ pañcakṛtpañcaguṇaḥ pañcaśikhaḥ smṛtaḥ | puruṣāvasthamavyaktaṃ paramārthaṃ nyavedayat

he, who is remembered as Panchashikha, knower of five, doer of five, possessed of five qualities, declared to him the supreme truth: the unmanifest as it stands in the person.

Note on the text: Removed the closing square bracket and the stray doubled daṇḍa after line 1. Line 1 is the CE star line 12.211.11b*0612_02 (pañcajñaḥ pañcakṛt pañcaguṇaḥ pañcaśikhaḥ smṛtaḥ), so there is no CE verse whose first line this is; line 2 = CE 12.211.11c (न्यवेदयत् against CE nibodhayat, a variant, kept). The alignment found no match.

Verse 13 (12.220.13)

इष्ट्वा सत्रेण संपृष्टो भूयश्च तपसाऽऽसुरिः । क्षेत्रक्षेत्रज्ञयोर्व्यक्तिं बुबुधे देवदर्शनात् ॥

iṣṭvā satreṇa saṃpṛṣṭo bhūyaśca tapasā''suriḥ | kṣetrakṣetrajñayorvyaktiṃ bubudhe devadarśanāt

Having performed the sacrifice with that session and been questioned, and again through austerity, Asuri understood, by his vision of the divine, the manifest distinction between the field and the knower of the field.

Verse 14 (12.220.14)

यत्तदेकाक्षरं ब्रह्म नानारूपं प्रदृश्यते । बोधायनपरान्विप्रानृषिभावमुपागतः । आसुरिर्मण्डले तस्मिन्प्रतिपेदे तदव्ययम् ॥

yattadekākṣaraṃ brahma nānārūpaṃ pradṛśyate | bodhāyanaparānviprānṛṣibhāvamupāgataḥ | āsurirmaṇḍale tasminpratipede tadavyayam

Having attained the state of a seer among the brahmins devoted to Bodhayana, Asuri in that assembly realised that imperishable one-syllabled Brahman, which is seen in many forms.

Note on the text: Removed the backticks and the stray daṇḍa around line 2. Three-line verse, as on the page (labelled 12-220-14a/b/c): line 1 = CE 12.211.13a, line 2 = the CE star line 12.211.13b*0614_01 (bodhāyanaparān viprān ṛṣibhāvam upāgataḥ), line 3 = CE 12.211.13c. The alignment found no match.

Verse 15 (12.220.15)

तस्य पञ्चशिखः शिष्यो मानुष्याः पयसा भृतः । ब्राह्मणी कपिला नाम काचिदासीत्कुटुम्बिनी ॥

tasya pañcaśikhaḥ śiṣyo mānuṣyāḥ payasā bhṛtaḥ | brāhmaṇī kapilā nāma kācidāsītkuṭumbinī

Panchashikha was his disciple, nourished on the milk of a human woman. There was a brahmin woman named Kapila, the mistress of a household.

Verse 16 (12.220.16)

तस्याः पुत्रत्वमागम्य स्त्रियाः स पिबति स्तनौ । ततः स कापिलेयत्वं लेभे बुद्धिं च नैष्ठिकीम् ॥

tasyāḥ putratvamāgamya striyāḥ sa pibati stanau | tataḥ sa kāpileyatvaṃ lebhe buddhiṃ ca naiṣṭhikīm

Becoming that woman's son, he drank at her breasts; from this he gained the name Kapileya, and a wisdom that was firm and final.

Verse 17 (12.220.17)

एतन्मे भगवानाह कापिलेयस्य संभवम् । तस्य तत्कापिलेयत्वं सर्ववित्त्वमनुत्तमम् ॥

etanme bhagavānāha kāpileyasya saṃbhavam | tasya tatkāpileyatvaṃ sarvavittvamanuttamam

The revered one told me this about the origin of Kapileya, and of his state as Kapila's son and his unsurpassed all-knowledge.

Verse 18 (12.220.18)

सामान्यं जनकं ज्ञात्वा धर्मज्ञानामनुत्तमम् । उपेत्य शतमाचार्यान्मोहयामास हेतुभिः ॥

sāmānyaṃ janakaṃ jñātvā dharmajñānāmanuttamam | upetya śatamācāryānmohayāmāsa hetubhiḥ

Knowing Janaka to be even-minded toward all his teachers and the best among those who know dharma, he went to the hundred teachers and bewildered them with arguments.

Verse 19 (12.220.19)

निराकरिष्णुस्तान्सर्वांस्तेषां हेतुगुणान्बहून् । श्रावयामास मतिमान्मुनिः पञ्चशिखो नृप ॥

nirākariṣṇustānsarvāṃsteṣāṃ hetuguṇānbahūn | śrāvayāmāsa matimānmuniḥ pañcaśikho nṛpa

Wishing to refute them all, the wise sage Panchashikha, O king, made them listen to the many merits of the various lines of argument.

Note on the text: Corrected वहून् → बहून् (misprint in Wikisource; व for ब; CE bahūn). Removed the backtick that opens the couplet and the closing quote with its stray doubled daṇḍa. Not in the critical edition's constituted text: it is the CE star passage 12.211.17d*0615_01-02 (nirākariṣṇus tān sarvāṃs teṣāṃ hetuguṇān bahūn / śrāvayām āsa matimān muniḥ pañcaśikho nṛpa).

Verse 20 (12.220.20)

जनकस्त्वभिसंरक्तः कापिलेयानुदर्शनात् । उत्सृज्य शतमाचार्यान्पृष्ठतोऽनुजगाम तम् ॥

janakastvabhisaṃraktaḥ kāpileyānudarśanāt | utsṛjya śatamācāryānpṛṣṭhato'nujagāma tam

But Janaka, deeply drawn to Kapileya on seeing him, left the hundred teachers and followed behind him.

Verse 21 (12.220.21)

तस्मै परमकल्याय प्रणताय च धर्मतः । अब्रवीत्परमं मोक्षं यतः साङ्ख्यं विधीयते ॥

tasmai paramakalyāya praṇatāya ca dharmataḥ | abravītparamaṃ mokṣaṃ yataḥ sāṅkhyaṃ vidhīyate

To him, who was supremely capable and had bowed in accordance with dharma, he declared the supreme liberation, for the sake of which the Sankhya is laid down.

Verse 22 (12.220.22)

जातिनिर्वेदमुक्त्वा स कर्मनिर्वेदमब्रवीत् । कर्मनिर्वेदमुक्त्वा च सर्वनिर्वेदमब्रवीत् ॥

jātinirvedamuktvā sa karmanirvedamabravīt | karmanirvedamuktvā ca sarvanirvedamabravīt

Having spoken of disgust with birth, he spoke of disgust with action; and having spoken of disgust with action, he spoke of disgust with everything.

Verse 23 (12.220.23)

यदर्थं धर्मसंसर्गः कर्मणां च फलोदयः । तमनाश्वासिकं मोहं विनाशि चलमध्रुवम् ॥

yadarthaṃ dharmasaṃsargaḥ karmaṇāṃ ca phalodayaḥ | tamanāśvāsikaṃ mohaṃ vināśi calamadhruvam

That for whose sake there is engagement in dharmic rites and the fruit of rites arises, he declared a delusion: it gives no assurance, it perishes, and it is unsteady and unstable.

Verse 24 (12.220.24)

दृश्यमाने विनाशे च प्रत्यक्षे लोकसाक्षिके । आगमात्परमस्तीति ब्रुवन्नपि पराजितः ॥

dṛśyamāne vināśe ca pratyakṣe lokasākṣike | āgamātparamastīti bruvannapi parājitaḥ

When destruction is seen plainly, before the eyes of the world, one who still asserts on the authority of scripture that there is something beyond is defeated.

Verse 25 (12.220.25)

आत्मना ह्यात्मनो नित्यं क्लेशमृत्युजरामयम् । आत्मानं मन्यते मोहात्तदसम्यक्परं मतम् ॥

ātmanā hyātmano nityaṃ kleśamṛtyujarāmayam | ātmānaṃ manyate mohāttadasamyakparaṃ matam

Out of delusion a person always regards his own self as subject to affliction, death, old age and disease; that supposition is held to be mistaken.

Verse 26 (12.220.26)

अथ चेदेवमप्यस्ति यल्लोके नोपपद्यते । अजरोऽयममृत्युश्च राजाऽसौ मन्यते तथा ॥

atha cedevamapyasti yalloke nopapadyate | ajaro'yamamṛtyuśca rājā'sau manyate tathā

And even if there is such a thing, which does not hold good in the world, this king too thinks of himself in the same way, as ageless and deathless.

Verse 27 (12.220.27)

अस्ति नास्तीति चाप्येतत्तस्मिन्नसति लक्षणे । किमधिष्ठाय तद्ब्रूयाल्लोकयात्राविनिश्चयम् ॥

asti nāstīti cāpyetattasminnasati lakṣaṇe | kimadhiṣṭhāya tadbrūyāllokayātrāviniścayam

"It is" and "it is not": when there is no mark by which to settle this, on what basis could one declare the settled course of worldly life?

Verse 28 (12.220.28)

प्रत्यक्षं ह्येतयोर्मूलं कृतान्तैतिह्ययोरपि । प्रत्यक्षेणागमो भिन्नः कृतान्तो वा न कश्चन ॥

pratyakṣaṃ hyetayormūlaṃ kṛtāntaitihyayorapi | pratyakṣeṇāgamo bhinnaḥ kṛtānto vā na kaścana

Perception is the root of both, of established doctrine and of traditional lore; neither scripture nor any doctrine at all is distinct from perception.

Verse 29 (12.220.29)

यत्रतत्रानुमानेऽस्मिन्कृतं भावयतोऽपि च । नान्यो जीवः शरीरस्य नास्तिकानां मते स्मृतः ॥

yatratatrānumāne'sminkṛtaṃ bhāvayato'pi ca | nānyo jīvaḥ śarīrasya nāstikānāṃ mate smṛtaḥ

In any inference of this kind, however much one dwells on what has been established, the materialists hold that there is no soul apart from the body.

Verse 30 (12.220.30)

रेतो वटकणीकायां घृतपाकाधिवासनम् । जातिः स्मृतिरयस्कान्तः सूर्यकान्तोऽम्बुभक्षणम् ॥

reto vaṭakaṇīkāyāṃ ghṛtapākādhivāsanam | jātiḥ smṛtirayaskāntaḥ sūryakānto'mbubhakṣaṇam

The semen; the seed in the banyan fruit; the permeation of cooked ghee; birth; memory; the lodestone; the sun-crystal; the drinking of water;

Verse 31 (12.220.31)

प्रेत्य भूताप्ययश्चैव देवताभ्युपयाचनम् । मृते कर्मनिवृत्तिश्च प्रमाणमिति निश्चयः ॥

pretya bhūtāpyayaścaiva devatābhyupayācanam | mṛte karmanivṛttiśca pramāṇamiti niścayaḥ

the dissolution of beings after death; the entreaty of the gods; and the ending of action in the dead: these they fix on as the proofs.

Verse 32 (12.220.32)

न त्वेते हेतवः सन्ति ये केचिन्मूर्तिसंस्थिताः । अमूर्तस्य हि मूर्तेन सामान्यं नोपपद्यते ॥

na tvete hetavaḥ santi ye kecinmūrtisaṃsthitāḥ | amūrtasya hi mūrtena sāmānyaṃ nopapadyate

But none of these reasons, whatever they are, that rest on material form, holds; for what is formless can have no likeness with what has form.

Verse 33 (12.220.33)

अविद्याकर्मचेष्टानां केचिदाहुः पुनर्भवे । कारणं लोभमोहौ तु दोषाणां च निषेवणम् ॥

avidyākarmaceṣṭānāṃ kecidāhuḥ punarbhave | kāraṇaṃ lobhamohau tu doṣāṇāṃ ca niṣevaṇam

Some say that rebirth is caused by ignorance, action and effort; the cause is greed and delusion and the indulgence of faults.

Verse 34 (12.220.34)

अविद्यां क्षेत्रमाहुर्हि कर्मबीजं तथा कृतम् । तृष्णासंजननं स्नेह एष तेषां पुनर्भवः ॥

avidyāṃ kṣetramāhurhi karmabījaṃ tathā kṛtam | tṛṣṇāsaṃjananaṃ sneha eṣa teṣāṃ punarbhavaḥ

They call ignorance the field, action the seed thus sown, and attachment, which breeds craving, the moisture; that, for them, is rebirth.

Verse 35 (12.220.35)

तस्मिन्मूढे च जग्धे च देहे मरणधर्मिणि । अन्योऽसौ जायते प्रेतस्तदाहुस्तत्वमक्षयम् ॥

tasminmūḍhe ca jagdhe ca dehe maraṇadharmiṇi | anyo'sau jāyate pretastadāhustatvamakṣayam

When that mortal body has gone senseless and been consumed, another being, a departed spirit, is born; this, they say, is the undying truth.

Note on the text: The alignment found no match, but this is CE 12.211.33 in a recension variant (मूढे च जग्धे च देहे … अन्योऽसौ जायते प्रेतस्तदाहुस्तत्वमक्षयम् against CE vyūḍhe ca dagdhe ca citte … anyo 'nyāj jāyate dehas tam āhuḥ sattvasaṃkṣayam; the page's own note records the variant व्यूढे च दग्धे च). Wikisource's reading is kept.

Verse 36 (12.220.36)

यदा स्वरूपतश्चान्यो जातितः श्रुतितोऽर्थतः । कथमस्मिन्स इत्येवं संबोधः स्यादसंहितः ॥

yadā svarūpataścānyo jātitaḥ śrutito'rthataḥ | kathamasminsa ityevaṃ saṃbodhaḥ syādasaṃhitaḥ

When he differs in form, in birth, in learning and in purpose, how could the incoherent recognition "he is this one" arise in him?

Verse 37 (12.220.37)

एवं सति च का प्रीतिर्दानविद्यातपोबलैः । यद्यदाचरितं कर्म सर्वमन्यत्प्रपद्यते ॥

evaṃ sati ca kā prītirdānavidyātapobalaiḥ | yadyadācaritaṃ karma sarvamanyatprapadyate

That being so, what delight can there be in gifts, learning, austerity and strength, if all the action done by one is received by another?

Verse 38 (12.220.38)

यदि ह्ययमिहैवान्यैः प्राकृतैर्दुःखितो भवेत् । सुखितो दुःखितैर्वाऽपि दृश्यो ह्यस्यविनिर्णयः ॥

yadi hyayamihaivānyaiḥ prākṛtairduḥkhito bhavet | sukhito duḥkhitairvā'pi dṛśyo hyasyavinirṇayaḥ

If a man were made unhappy even here by other, ordinary people, or made happy, or made unhappy by the unhappy, the verdict upon him would be there to see.

Verse 39 (12.220.39)

यदा हि मुसलैर्हन्युः शरीरं न पुनर्भवेत् । पृथग्ज्ञानं यदन्यच्च येनैतन्नोपपद्यते ॥

yadā hi musalairhanyuḥ śarīraṃ na punarbhavet | pṛthagjñānaṃ yadanyacca yenaitannopapadyate

When people beat the body with pestles, it does not live again; and the separate, other knowledge by which this might be explained does not hold.

Verse 40 (12.220.40)

ऋतुसंवत्सरौ तिथ्यः शीतोष्णेऽथ प्रियाप्रिये । यथाऽतीता न दृश्यन्ते तादृशः सत्वसंक्षयः ॥

ṛtusaṃvatsarau tithyaḥ śītoṣṇe'tha priyāpriye | yathā'tītā na dṛśyante tādṛśaḥ satvasaṃkṣayaḥ

Seasons, years, lunar days, cold and heat, the pleasant and the unpleasant: as these, once past, are no longer seen, so is the passing away of a being.

Verse 41 (12.220.41)

जरयाऽभिपरीतस्य मृत्युना न विनाशिना । दुर्बलं दुर्बलं पूर्वं गृहस्येव विनश्यति ॥

jarayā'bhiparītasya mṛtyunā na vināśinā | durbalaṃ durbalaṃ pūrvaṃ gṛhasyeva vinaśyati

For one overtaken by old age and by death, which itself does not perish, the weakest part fails first, as in a house.

Verse 42 (12.220.42)

इन्द्रियाणि मनो वायुः शोणितं मांसमस्थि च । आनुपूर्व्या विनश्यन्ति स्वं धातुमुपयान्ति च ॥

indriyāṇi mano vāyuḥ śoṇitaṃ māṃsamasthi ca | ānupūrvyā vinaśyanti svaṃ dhātumupayānti ca

The senses, the mind, the breath, blood, flesh and bone perish in order and go to their own elements.

Note on the text: Corrected इन्द्रियाणी → इन्द्रियाणि (misprint in Wikisource; long ī; CE indriyāṇi).

Verse 43 (12.220.43)

लोकयात्राविधानं च दानधर्मफलागमः । तदर्थं वेदशब्दाश्च व्यवहाराश्च लौकिकाः ॥

lokayātrāvidhānaṃ ca dānadharmaphalāgamaḥ | tadarthaṃ vedaśabdāśca vyavahārāśca laukikāḥ

The ordering of worldly life, the coming of the fruit of gifts and dharma, and the Vedic words and worldly dealings that serve that end:

Verse 44 (12.220.44)

इति सम्यङ्मनस्येते बहवः सन्ति हेतवः । एतदासीन्ममास्तीति न कश्चित्प्रतिपद्यते ॥

iti samyaṅmanasyete bahavaḥ santi hetavaḥ | etadāsīnmamāstīti na kaścitpratipadyate

thus there are many reasons present in the mind of a sound thinker; yet "this was mine, this is mine": no one truly comes to grasp this.

Note on the text: Corrected सम्यङ्भनस्येते → सम्यङ्मनस्येते (misprint in Wikisource; भ for म; CE samyaṅ manasy ete).

Verse 45 (12.220.45)

तेषां विमृशतामेवं तत्तत्समभिधावताम् । क्वचिन्निविशते बुद्धिस्तत्र जीर्यति वृक्षवत् ॥

teṣāṃ vimṛśatāmevaṃ tattatsamabhidhāvatām | kvacinniviśate buddhistatra jīryati vṛkṣavat

As they ponder in this way, running first to one view and then to another, the mind settles somewhere, and there it wears away like a tree.

Verse 46 (12.220.46)

एवमर्थैरनर्थैश्च दुःखिताः सर्वजन्तवः । आगमैरपकृष्यन्ते हस्तिपैर्हस्तिनो यथा ॥

evamarthairanarthaiśca duḥkhitāḥ sarvajantavaḥ | āgamairapakṛṣyante hastipairhastino yathā

Thus all creatures, distressed by gains and losses alike, are dragged along by the traditions, as elephants are by their drivers.

Verse 47 (12.220.47)

न जातु कामः कामानामुपभोगेन शाम्यति । हविषा कृष्णवर्त्मेव भूय एवाभिवर्धते ॥

na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānāmupabhogena śāmyati | haviṣā kṛṣṇavartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate

Desire is never quenched by the enjoyment of desires; like fire fed with ghee, it only grows the more.

Note on the text: Removed the backtick that opens the couplet and the closing quote with its stray doubled daṇḍa. Not in the critical edition's constituted text: it is the CE star passage 12.211.44d*0616_01-02 (na jātu kāmaḥ kāmānām upabhogena śāmyati / haviṣā kṛṣṇavartmeva bhūya evābhivardhate), identical.

Verse 48 (12.220.48)

अर्थांस्तथाऽत्यन्तसुखावहांश्च । लिप्सन्त एते बहवो विशुष्काः । महत्तरं दुःखमनुप्रपन्ना । हित्वा सुखं मृत्युवशं प्रयान्ति ॥

arthāṃstathā'tyantasukhāvahāṃśca | lipsanta ete bahavo viśuṣkāḥ | mahattaraṃ duḥkhamanuprapannā | hitvā sukhaṃ mṛtyuvaśaṃ prayānti

Craving things that promise the utmost happiness, many of them dry up; falling into still greater sorrow, they leave happiness behind and go under the power of death.

Note on the text: Corrected मुखावहांश्च → सुखावहांश्च (misprint in Wikisource; म for स; CE atyantasukhāvahāṃś ca).

Verse 49 (12.220.49)

विनाशिनो ह्यध्रुवजीवितस्य । किं बन्धुभिर्मित्रपरिग्रहैश्च । विहाय यो गच्छति सर्वमेव । क्षणेन गत्वा न निवर्तते च ॥

vināśino hyadhruvajīvitasya | kiṃ bandhubhirmitraparigrahaiśca | vihāya yo gacchati sarvameva | kṣaṇena gatvā na nivartate ca

What use are kinsmen and friends and allies to one whose life is perishable and unstable? He leaves everything behind, goes in an instant, and having gone does not return.

Note on the text: Corrected ह्यध्नुवजीवितस्य → ह्यध्रुवजीवितस्य (misprint in Wikisource; CE adhruvajīvitasya).

Verse 50 (12.220.50)

भूव्योमतोयानलवायवोऽपि । सदा शरीरं प्रतिपालयन्ति । इतीदमालक्ष्य रतिः कुतो भवे । द्विनाशिनो ह्यस्य न कर्म विद्यते ॥

bhūvyomatoyānalavāyavo'pi | sadā śarīraṃ pratipālayanti | itīdamālakṣya ratiḥ kuto bhave | dvināśino hyasya na karma vidyate

Earth, space, water, fire and wind too always keep the body going. Seeing this, how could there be delight in it? For in what perishes, no action endures.

Verse 51 (12.220.51)

इदमनुपधिवाक्यमच्छलं । परमनिरामयमात्मसाक्षिकम् । नरपतिरभिवीक्ष्य विस्मितः । पुनरनुयोक्तुमिदं प्रचक्रमे ॥

idamanupadhivākyamacchalaṃ | paramanirāmayamātmasākṣikam | narapatirabhivīkṣya vismitaḥ | punaranuyoktumidaṃ pracakrame

Having considered this guileless, deceit-free speech, wholly free of fault and witnessed by the self, the king, astonished, began to question him again.

Note on the text: The alignment found no match, but this is CE 12.211.48 (idam anupadhi vākyam acchalaṃ; paramanirāmayam ātmasākṣikam / narapatir abhivīkṣya vismitaḥ; punar anuyoktum idaṃ pracakrame), here divided into four lines; Wikisource's reading is the same.