आकृतिसाम्याच्छाल्मलिकुसुमे स्थलनलिनत्वभ्रममकरोःगन्धरसाविह किमु विद्येते विफलं भ्राम्यसि भृशविरसेऽस्मिन् ।चेतोभृङ्ग भ्रमसि वृथा भवमरुभूमौ विरसायांभज भज लक्ष्मीनरसिंहानघपदसरसिजमकरन्दम् ॥ ३ ॥
In plain words
The shape looked right, so you took the silk-cotton blossom for a lotus and believed it. Is there any scent here? Any sweetness? You are circling a dry thing for nothing. Bee of my mind, you drift for nothing across the desert of saṃsāra, where nothing runs sweet. Go to it, go to it — the nectar in the lotus of Lakṣmī-Narasiṃha's flawless feet.
Close to the Sanskrit
Because of the similarity of form, in the silk-cotton flower you made the delusion of its being a land-lotus. Are fragrance and juice found here at all? Fruitlessly you wander about in this utterly sapless one. O bee of the mind, you roam in vain over the sapless desert-land of worldly existence. Worship, worship the nectar of the lotus that is the stainless feet of Lakṣmī-Narasiṃha.