The Contrast

The Contrast
--
असितगिरिसमं स्यात् कज्जलं सिन्धुपात्रे
सुरतरुवरशाखा लेखनी पत्रमुर्वी ।
लिखति यदि गृहीत्वा शारदा सर्वकालं
तदपि तवगुणानामीश पारं न याति ॥
(गन्धर्वराजपुष्पदन्तविरचितंशिवमहिम्नःस्तोत्रं :32)
--
अर्थ :
यदि समुद्ररूपी पात्र में काजल का बना एक विशाल पहाड़ हो,
और, यदि सारे वृक्षों की शाखाओं से बनी एक लेखनी हो,
यदि समूची धरती ही विशाल पृष्ठ रूपी एक कागज़ हो,
पूरे समय सरस्वती उस लेखनी से उस पर लिखती रहें,
तो भी परमेश्वर तुम्हारे अनंत गुणों का पार नहीं पाया जा सकता ॥
--    

asiragirisamaṃ syāta kajjalaṃ sindhupātre
surataruvaraśākhā lekhanī patramurvī |
likhati yadi gṛhītvā śāradā sarvakālaṃ
tadapi tava guṇānāmīśa pāraṃ na yāti ||
(gandharvarājapuṣpadantaviracitaṃśivamahimnaḥstotraṃ :32)
--
Meaning :
If The ocean is made an ink-pot,
Where a mountain-load of lampblack is kept, 
If all the twigs of all the trees,
Were made into a writing-pen,
If Goddess Saraswatī writes on all the time,
Upon the paper that is the face of earth, 
Could not be able to describe,
Your virtues are so infinite, O Lord!
--
If all the trees .....
--
If all the seas were one sea,
What a great sea that would be!
If all the trees were one tree,
What a great tree that would be!
If all the axes were one axe,
What a great axe that would be!
If all the men were one man,
What a great man he would be!
And if the great man took the great axe,
And cut down the great tree,
And let it fall into the great sea,
What a great splash-splash that would be!
(by Janina Domanska)
--