Then answered Kakabhushundi, who had no small affection for the lord of the
feathered creation : My lord, you are in everyway entitled to my homage, a recipient as
you are of Shri Rama's favour. You had neither doubt nor infatuation, nor delusion; it was
only an excuse, my lord, for doing me a kindness. By sending you, O king of the birds,
under the pretext of infatuation the Lord of the Raghus has conferred an honour on me.
Yet, my lord, there is nothing peculiar in that delusion of yours of which you have told
me, O king of the birds; for the celestial sage Nårada, Bhava (Lord Shiva) and Viranchi (the
Creator), as well as Sanaka and the other great sages, exponents of the truth of the
Spirit which of these has not been blinded by infatuation? Again, is there anyone in this
world whom lust has not made a puppet of? Who has not been maddened by the thirst
for enjoyment and whose heart has not been inflamed by anger? (1-4)
Is there any sage, ascetic, hero, seer, man of learning or man of virtue in this
world, whom greed has not batrayed? Again, whom has the pride of pelf not perverted?
Who has not been deafened by power? And is there anyone who has not been smitten
by the shaft-like glances of a fawn-eyed woman? (70 A-B)
Who is not thrown out of his mental equipoise by the combined action of the three
Gunas (modes of Prakriti) as by the synchronous derangement of the three humours of
the body (which generally proves fatal to the victim according to the principles of
Åyurveda)? None has escaped the stings of pride and arrogance. Who does not get
wildly excited under an attack of fever in the form of youth and whose good reputation
is not marred by worldly attachment? Who does not incur obloquy through envy and who
is not shaken by the blast of grief? Who is not bitten by the serpent of care? And is there
anyone in this world who is not overcome by Måyå (the delusive potency of God)?
Again, is there anyone so resolute of mind, whose body is not being consumed by desire
as a piece of wood is eaten away by a wooded-borer? Whose mind has not been
polluted by the threefold desire of the desire of progeny, the desire of wealth and the desire of fame? All these constitute the retinue of Måyå, formidable and infinite in number,
more than any can tell. Even Lord Shiva and the four-faced Brahmå (the Creator) are ever
afraid of these; of what account, then, are other creatures? (1-4)
Måyå's formidable army is spread over the whole universe. Concupiscence and
others (viz., Anger and Greed) are its generals; Hypocrisy, Deceit and Heresy its
champions. That Måyå, however, is Shri Råma's own handmaid; though unreal when
understood, there is no release from her grip except by Shri Råma's grace: I declare this
with the utmost confidence. (71 A-B)
The same Måyå that has made a puppet of the whole world and whose ways are
unknown to anyone, dances with all her troups like an actress on the stage to the play
of the Lord's eyebrows, O king of birds. Such is Shri Råma, who is devoid of birth, the
totality of Existence, Knowledge and Bliss, wisdom personified, the home of beauty and
strength. He is both pervading and pervaded, fractionless, infinite and integral, the Lord
of unfailing power, attributeless, vast, transcending speech as well as the other senses,
all-seeing, free from blemish, invincible, unattached, devoid of form, free from error, eternal and untainted by Måyå, beyond the realm of Prakriti (Matter), bliss personified, the
Lord indwelling the heart of all, the actionless Brahma, free from passion and imperishable.
In Him error finds no ground to stand upon; can the shades of darkness ever approach
the sun? (1-4)