Book 6 · Nirvāṇa I निर्वाण · chapters 14–28 · 15 chapters
Vasishtha narrates to Rama his meeting with Bhushunda, an immensely long-lived crow who lives in a nest in the wish-fulfilling tree on Mount Meru.
Vasishtha tells Rama that once, while in the assembly of the gods, he heard of a crow named Bhushunda who has lived longer than anyone in heaven. Curious, Vasishtha travels to Mount Meru and finds Bhushunda in his nest in a wish-fulfilling tree on the mountain's peak. The crow welcomes him warmly and, questioned by Vasishtha, tells his own history: he was one of twenty-one brothers hatched from eggs laid by their mother Chanda after a divine festival, and he chose solitary meditation on Meru's peak over worldly life. Bhushunda explains how he has survived through many cosmic ages and repeated dissolutions of the world, describing what he remembers of the rise and fall of kingdoms, mountains, and gods across the ages, and how, through steady control of the breath (prana and apana) joined with self-knowledge, his mind stays undisturbed by pleasure, pain, danger, or the destruction of the universe itself. He recounts how his brothers, though also long-lived, eventually died, while he alone remains, sustained by equanimity rather than by any special power. Vasishtha, having heard the whole account, then tells Rama that anyone who takes up the same breath-discipline and even-minded vision can reach the state Bhushunda has reached, and reports that this crow still lived, even now, in Rama's own era.
तस्मिन्निवसति श्रीमान्भुशुण्डो नाम वायसः | वीतरागो बृहत्कोशे ब्रह्मेव निजपङ्कजे || ८ ||
In that nest resides the glorious crow named Bhushunda, who is free from desires and has a large body, just like Brahma in his own lotus.
उस घोंसले में श्रीमान् भुशुण्ड नामक कौआ रहता है, जो इच्छाओं से मुक्त है और ब्रह्मा के समान अपने कमल में है।
एतावताथ कालेन सर्व एव ममानुजाः | तनूस्तृणमिव त्यक्त्वा शिवे परिणताः पदे || ९ ||
In this time, all my brothers have left their bodies like grass and have attained the state of Shiva.
इस समय में, मेरे सभी भाई घास की तरह अपने शरीर को छोड़कर शिव की स्थिति को प्राप्त हो गए हैं।
भुशुण्ड उवाच | यदा पपात कल्पान्ते व्यवहारो जगत्स्थितौ | कृतघ्न इव सन्मित्रं तदा नीडं त्यजाम्यहम् || १५ ||
Bhushunda said: When the worldly affairs fall at the end of the Kalpa, like a traitor abandoning a friend, then I abandon my nest.
भूशुण्ड ने कहा: जब कल्प के अंत में संसार के कार्य गिरते हैं, जैसे एक विश्वासघाती एक मित्र को छोड़ देता है, तब मैं अपने घोंसले को छोड़ देता हूँ।
इति संकथितं चित्रं भुशुण्डोदन्तमुत्तमम् । श्रुत्वा विचार्य चैवान्तर्यद्युक्तं तत्समाचर || २० ||
Thus, the wonderful story of Bhushunda has been narrated. Having heard it, reflect upon it and act accordingly if it is appropriate.
इस प्रकार, भुशुण्ड की चित्रमयी कहानी कही गई है। इसे सुनकर और विचार करके, यदि यह उचित है, तो उसे अपनाएँ।
The story occupies chapters 14–28 of Book 6. Each link opens that chapter complete — Sanskrit in Devanagari and IAST, with a plain English and Hindi translation of every verse. The number under each link is its verse count.