ekaḥ - one only; tapasvī - great sage; aham - I; atha - thus; ambhasi - in the deep water; matsya-saṅgāt - by associating with the fish; pañcāśat - fifty; āsam - got wives; uta - and what to speak of begetting one hundred sons in each of them; pañca-sahasra-sargaḥ - procreation of five thousand; na antam - no end; vrajāmi - I can find; ubhaya-kṛtya - duties of this life and the next; manorathānām - mental concoctions; māyā-guṇaiḥ - influenced by the modes of material nature; hṛta - lost; matiḥ viṣaye - great attraction for material things; artha-bhāvaḥ - matters of self-interest.

In the beginning I was alone and engaged in performing the austerities of mystic yoga, but later, because of the association of fish engaged in sex, I desired to marry. Then I became the husband of fifty wives, and in each of them I begot one hundred sons, and thus my family increased to five thousand members. By the influence of the modes of material nature, I became fallen and thought that I would be happy in material life. Thus there is no end to my material desires for enjoyment, in this life and the next.