मृगतृष्णा

 कुरङ्गलोचनं दृष्ट्वा मृगं कान्तारवासिनम् ।

धावन्ति मानवाः सर्वे यथा चन्द्रं मृगाङ्कितम् ॥१॥

भरतो मृगमन्विष्य त्यक्तवान् ज्ञानसाधनम् ।

रामो रक्षोमृगं दृष्ट्वा वैदेहीं खेदितो भृशम् ॥२॥

परीक्षिन्मृगयायातः कलिकालं समानयत् ।

दुष्यन्तश्चापि शकुन्तां विस्मृतो मृगधावनात् ॥३॥

मरीचिका यथा दूरे जलवद्भाति भूतले ।

तथैव मृगरूपेण मोहयन्ति च मानवान् ॥४॥

मृगतृष्णेव संसारे भ्रमयन्ति मनः सदा ।

यो धावति स नश्यति यस्तिष्ठति स जीवति ॥५॥

कमलं पद्मपत्राक्षं यथा भ्रमरमोहनम् ।

तथैव मृगशावाक्षं जगन्मोहनकारणम् ॥६॥

Seeing the doe-eyed deer dwelling in the forest,

All humans chase it like the moon marked with a deer.

Bharata, pursuing the deer, abandoned his path of wisdom,

Rama, seeing the demon-deer, deeply lost his Vaidehi.

Parikshit's hunt brought forth the Kali age,

And Dushyanta too forgot Shakuntala from deer-chasing.

Like a mirage that gleams like water in the distance on ground,

So too in deer's form do they delude mankind.

Like the deer's mirage in this world, forever deceiving the mind,

Who runs perishes, who stands still, survives.

As the lotus with eyes like petals deludes the bee,

So too the fawn-eyed one causes world's delusion.