The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Adi Parva
Religion
The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa Translated into English Prose: Adi Parva
Epic literature, Sanskrit
"'Ye have existed before the creation! Ye first-born beings, ye are
displayed in this wondrous universe of five elements! I desire to obtain
you by the help of the knowledge derived from hearing, and of meditation,
for ye are Infinite! Ye are the course itself of Nature and intelligent
Soul that pervades that course! Ye are birds of beauteous feathers perched
on the body that is like to a tree! Ye are without the three common
attributes of every soul! Ye are incomparable! Ye, through your spirit in
every created thing, pervade the Universe!
"'Ye are golden Eagles! Ye are the essence into which all things disappear!
Ye are free from error and know no deterioration! Ye are of beauteous
beaks that would not unjustly strike and are victorious in every
encounter! Ye certainly prevail over time! Having created the sun, ye
weave the wondrous cloth of the year by means of the white thread of the
day and the black thread of the night! And with the cloth so woven, ye
have established two courses of action appertaining respectively to the
Devas and the Pitris. The bird of Life seized by Time which represents the
strength of the Infinite soul, ye set free for delivering her unto great
happiness! They that are in deep ignorance, as long as they are under
delusions of their senses, suppose you, who are independent of the
attributes of matter, to be gifted with form! Three hundred and sixty cows
represented by three hundred and sixty days produce one calf between them
which is the year. That calf is the creator and destroyer of all. Seekers
of truth following different routes, draw the milk of true knowledge with
its help. Ye Aswins, ye are the creators of that calf!
"'The year is but the nave of a wheel to which is attached seven hundred
and twenty spokes representing as many days and nights. The circumference
of this wheel represented by twelve months is without end. This wheel is
full of delusions and knows no deterioration. It affects all creatures
whether to this or of the other worlds. Ye Aswins, this wheel of time is
set in motion by you!
"'The wheel of Time as represented by the year has a nave represented by
the six seasons. The number of spokes attached to that nave is twelve as
represented by the twelve signs of the Zodiac. This wheel of Time
manifests the fruits of the acts of all things. The presiding deities of
Time abide in that wheel. Subject as I am to its distressful influence, ye
Aswins, liberate me from that wheel of Time. Ye Aswins, ye are this
universe of five elements! Ye are the objects that are enjoyed in this and
in the other world! Make me independent of the five elements! And though
ye are the Supreme Brahma, yet ye move over the Earth in forms enjoying
the delights that the senses afford.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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