2023-02-23 18:49:14 by ambuda-bot
This page has not been fully proofread.
THE SŪRYAŚATAKA OF MAYŪRA
[For then] they were utterly [plunged] in darkness, [being]
indeed one [mass], and, as it were, submerged in the mire of
Pātāla,
220
Uncomprehended and incomprehensible; also, incapable of per-
ception by the senses, without distinguishing marks, and
immersed in sleep.*
May that Ravi (Sürya) protect you!
Notes. 1. The rising of Sürya is like creation, for as creation quick-
ened into life the dormant mass of matter, so Sürya arouses the sleeping
universe to activity. 2. Lit. 'they were as if submerged in the mire of
Pātāla, being indeed utterly one because of darkness.' 3. I have ren-
dered niravagati by 'incapable of perception by the senses'; its gloss is
pratyakşasya 'visayam, 'beyond the reach of perception by the eye.'
This stanza recalls Manu, 1.5, where the condition preceding creation is
described as follows: asid idam tamobhūtam aprajñātam alakṣaṇam ।
apratarkyam avijñeyam prasuptam iva sarvataḥ, 'This (universe) existed
as darkness, uncomprehended, without distinctive marks, incomprehensible,
unknowable, and, as it were, wholly immersed in sleep.' Lit. suptam
antaḥ means 'asleep within.'
V.L. (a) JHB iva tamasā sākam udgaḍham. (c) JHB niti nikhilam
jayate.
97
dvipe yo 'stacalo 'smin bhavati khalu sa evã 'paratrodayādrir
yā yāminy ujjvalendudyutir iha divaso 'nyatra tīvrātapaḥ saḥ
yadvaśyāu deśakālāv iti niyamayato no tu yam deśakālāv
avyāt sa svaprabhutvähitabhuvanahito hetur ahnām ino vaḥ
The Mighty (Sürya), the Cause of Days, by his own power brings
about the welfare of the world,
And he is not held in restraint even by time and place, for time
and place are subject to him¹;
For what in this quarter of the earth is the Sunset Mountain, in
another, indeed, is (Meru), the Mountain of Sunrise ;
And when here it is night with brilliant moonlight, elsewhere it
is day with intense heat.²
May that Mighty (Sürya) protect you!
Notes. 1. The commentary explains that 'time' means 'dawn, etc.,' and
'place' means ( east, etc.' For a similar conception of the relation of
[For then] they were utterly [plunged] in darkness, [being]
indeed one [mass], and, as it were, submerged in the mire of
Pātāla,
220
Uncomprehended and incomprehensible; also, incapable of per-
ception by the senses, without distinguishing marks, and
immersed in sleep.*
May that Ravi (Sürya) protect you!
Notes. 1. The rising of Sürya is like creation, for as creation quick-
ened into life the dormant mass of matter, so Sürya arouses the sleeping
universe to activity. 2. Lit. 'they were as if submerged in the mire of
Pātāla, being indeed utterly one because of darkness.' 3. I have ren-
dered niravagati by 'incapable of perception by the senses'; its gloss is
pratyakşasya 'visayam, 'beyond the reach of perception by the eye.'
This stanza recalls Manu, 1.5, where the condition preceding creation is
described as follows: asid idam tamobhūtam aprajñātam alakṣaṇam ।
apratarkyam avijñeyam prasuptam iva sarvataḥ, 'This (universe) existed
as darkness, uncomprehended, without distinctive marks, incomprehensible,
unknowable, and, as it were, wholly immersed in sleep.' Lit. suptam
antaḥ means 'asleep within.'
V.L. (a) JHB iva tamasā sākam udgaḍham. (c) JHB niti nikhilam
jayate.
97
dvipe yo 'stacalo 'smin bhavati khalu sa evã 'paratrodayādrir
yā yāminy ujjvalendudyutir iha divaso 'nyatra tīvrātapaḥ saḥ
yadvaśyāu deśakālāv iti niyamayato no tu yam deśakālāv
avyāt sa svaprabhutvähitabhuvanahito hetur ahnām ino vaḥ
The Mighty (Sürya), the Cause of Days, by his own power brings
about the welfare of the world,
And he is not held in restraint even by time and place, for time
and place are subject to him¹;
For what in this quarter of the earth is the Sunset Mountain, in
another, indeed, is (Meru), the Mountain of Sunrise ;
And when here it is night with brilliant moonlight, elsewhere it
is day with intense heat.²
May that Mighty (Sürya) protect you!
Notes. 1. The commentary explains that 'time' means 'dawn, etc.,' and
'place' means ( east, etc.' For a similar conception of the relation of