The Tree of Desire and the City of the Body

Verse 1 (12.260.1)

हृदि कामद्रुमश्चित्रो मोहसंचयसंभवः । क्रोधमानमहास्कन्धो विवित्सापरिवेषणः ॥

hṛdi kāmadrumaścitro mohasaṃcayasaṃbhavaḥ | krodhamānamahāskandho vivitsāpariveṣaṇaḥ

In the heart stands the many-coloured tree of desire, sprung from a heap of delusion; anger and pride are its great trunk, and the wish to know encircles it.

Note on the text: Line 2 विवित्सापरिवेषणः is kept as printed (a recension reading; CE vivitsāparimocanaḥ; the page's note records विधित्सा परिषेचन as a manuscript variant).

Verse 2 (12.260.2)

तस्य चाज्ञानमाधारः प्रमादः परिषेचनम् । सोऽभ्यसूयापलाशो हि पुरा दुष्कृतसारवान् ॥

tasya cājñānamādhāraḥ pramādaḥ pariṣecanam | so'bhyasūyāpalāśo hi purā duṣkṛtasāravān

Ignorance is its base and heedlessness its watering; envy is its leaves, and its sap is the evil deeds of former times.

Verse 3 (12.260.3)

संमोहचिन्ताविटपः शोकशाखो भयाङ्कुरः । मोहनीभिः पिपासाभिर्लताभिरनुवेष्टितः ॥

saṃmohacintāviṭapaḥ śokaśākho bhayāṅkuraḥ | mohanībhiḥ pipāsābhirlatābhiranuveṣṭitaḥ

Bewilderment and worry are its twigs, grief its branches, fear its shoots; and it is wrapped about with creepers of bewitching thirsts.

Verse 4 (12.260.4)

उपासते महावृक्षं सुलुब्धास्तत्फलेप्सवः । आयतैः संयुताः पाशैः फलदं परिवेष्ट्य तम् ॥

upāsate mahāvṛkṣaṃ sulubdhāstatphalepsavaḥ | āyataiḥ saṃyutāḥ pāśaiḥ phaladaṃ pariveṣṭya tam

The greedy, longing for its fruit, wait upon that great tree; bound by long snares, they cluster round the tree that yields them fruit.

Verse 5 (12.260.5)

यस्तान्पाशान्वशे कृत्वा तं वृक्षमपकर्षति । गतः स दुःखयोरन्तं जरामरणयोर्द्वयोः ॥

yastānpāśānvaśe kṛtvā taṃ vṛkṣamapakarṣati | gataḥ sa duḥkhayorantaṃ jarāmaraṇayordvayoḥ

He who brings those snares under his control and pulls that tree down has reached the end of both sorrows, old age and death.

Verse 6 (12.260.6)

संरोहत्यकृतप्रज्ञः ससत्वो हन्ति पादपम् । स तमेवाहतो हन्ति विषं ग्रस्तमिवातुरम् ॥

saṃrohatyakṛtaprajñaḥ sasatvo hanti pādapam | sa tamevāhato hanti viṣaṃ grastamivāturam

The man of untrained wisdom climbs it; the strong man strikes the tree down. But, struck, it strikes him back in turn, as swallowed poison strikes a sick man.

Verse 7 (12.260.7)

तस्यानुगतमूलस्य मूलमुद्ध्रियते बलात् । योगप्रसादात्कृतिना साम्येन परमासिना ॥

tasyānugatamūlasya mūlamuddhriyate balāt | yogaprasādātkṛtinā sāmyena paramāsinā

When its roots have spread, the root is torn out by force, through the grace of yoga, by the skilled man, with the supreme sword of equanimity.

Note on the text: Corrected उद्भियते → उद्ध्रियते (misprint in Wikisource; the conjunct ध्र lost its र, the critical edition reads uddhriyate). Line 1 अनुगतमूलस्य and line 2 योगप्रसादात्कृतिना are recension readings (CE anuśayamūlasya, tyāgāpramādākṛtinā; the page's note records त्यागप्रमाद कृतिना as a variant).

Verse 8 (12.260.8)

एवं यो वेद कामस्य केवलं परिसर्पणम् । एतच्च कामशास्त्रस्य सुदुःखान्यतिवर्तते ॥

evaṃ yo veda kāmasya kevalaṃ parisarpaṇam | etacca kāmaśāstrasya suduḥkhānyativartate

He who thus knows the whole creeping advance of desire, and knows too this much of the science of desire, passes beyond the hardest sorrows.

Verse 9 (12.260.9)

शरीरं पुरमित्याहुः स्वामिनी बुद्धिरिष्यते । तत्र बुद्धेः शरीरस्थं मनो नामार्थचिन्तकम् ॥

śarīraṃ puramityāhuḥ svāminī buddhiriṣyate | tatra buddheḥ śarīrasthaṃ mano nāmārthacintakam

They call the body a city, and the intellect is held to be its queen. There, within the body and belonging to the intellect, is the mind, whose task is to consider what is to be done.

Verse 10 (12.260.10)

इन्द्रियाणि जनाः पौरास्तदर्थं तु परा कृतिः । तत्र द्वौ दारुणौ दोषौ तमो नाम रजस्तथा । तदर्थमुपजीवन्ति पौराः सह पुरेश्वरैः ॥

indriyāṇi janāḥ paurāstadarthaṃ tu parā kṛtiḥ | tatra dvau dāruṇau doṣau tamo nāma rajastathā | tadarthamupajīvanti paurāḥ saha pureśvaraiḥ

The senses are the townspeople, and for their sake the great work is done. Two dreadful flaws dwell there, named darkness and passion; for that, the townspeople live on, together with the lords of the city.

Note on the text: Three-line verse, as on the page (labelled 12-260-10a/b/c): line 1 = CE 12.246.10a, line 2 = CE 12.246.10c, line 3 is a variant of CE 12.246.11a (CE yadartham upajīvanti paurāḥ sahapureśvarāḥ; the page reads तदर्थमुपजीवन्ति पौराः सह पुरेश्वरैः). The alignment found no match.

Verse 11 (12.260.11)

अद्वारेण तमेवार्थं द्वौ दोषावुपजीवतः । तत्र बुद्धिर्हि दुर्धर्षा मनः साधर्म्यमुच्यते ॥

advāreṇa tamevārthaṃ dvau doṣāvupajīvataḥ | tatra buddhirhi durdharṣā manaḥ sādharmyamucyate

Not by any gate, the two flaws live on that very object. There the intellect is hard to overcome, and the mind is said to share its nature.

Note on the text: The page begins this verse at the second half of CE 12.246.11: line 1 = CE 12.246.11c, line 2 = CE 12.246.12a. The alignment found no match.

Verse 12 (12.260.12)

पौराश्चापि मनस्तृप्तास्तेषामपि चला स्थितिः । यदर्थं बुद्धिरध्यास्ते सोऽनर्थः परिषीदति ॥

paurāścāpi manastṛptāsteṣāmapi calā sthitiḥ | yadarthaṃ buddhiradhyāste so'narthaḥ pariṣīdati

The townspeople, too, are content with the mind, yet even their footing is unsteady. That harm toward which the intellect directs itself comes to ruin.

Note on the text: Line 1 = CE 12.246.12c (मनस्तृप्ताः against CE manas trastāḥ); line 2 = CE 12.246.13a, which reads na so 'rthaḥ pariṣīdati; the page's सोऽनर्थः परिषीदति is kept as printed (a valid recension reading). The alignment found no match.

Verse 13 (12.260.13)

पौरमन्त्रवियुक्तायाः सोऽर्थः संसीदति क्रमात् । यदर्थं पृथगध्यास्ते मनस्तत्परिषीदति ॥

pauramantraviyuktāyāḥ so'rthaḥ saṃsīdati kramāt | yadarthaṃ pṛthagadhyāste manastatpariṣīdati

Cut off from the counsel of the townspeople, that aim gradually collapses. And that for the sake of which the mind sets itself apart sinks away.

Note on the text: Removed the backtick and closing quote mark Wikisource prints around line 1. Line 1 is the CE star passage 12.246.13b*0696_01 (pauramantraviyuktāyāḥ so 'rthaḥ saṃsīdati kramāt), line 2 = CE 12.246.13c. The alignment found no match.

Verse 14 (12.260.14)

पृथग्भूतं मनो बुद्ध्या मनो भवति केवलम् । तत्रैनं विकृतं शून्यं रजः पर्यवतिष्ठते ॥

pṛthagbhūtaṃ mano buddhyā mano bhavati kevalam | tatrainaṃ vikṛtaṃ śūnyaṃ rajaḥ paryavatiṣṭhate

Separated from the intellect, the mind stands alone; and then passion encircles it, altered and empty.

Note on the text: Line 1 lacks the CE's yadā (CE pṛthagbhūtaṃ yadā buddhyā); विकृतं in line 2 against CE vivṛtam is a recension variant. Both kept as printed.

Verse 15 (12.260.15)

तन्मनः कुरुते सख्यं रजसा सह संगतम् । तं चादाय जनं पौरं रजसे संप्रयच्छति ॥

tanmanaḥ kurute sakhyaṃ rajasā saha saṃgatam | taṃ cādāya janaṃ pauraṃ rajase saṃprayacchati

That mind makes friends with passion, joined with it; and taking the townspeople along, it hands them over to passion.