Sarga 12¶

Vairāgya Prakaraṇa · Śrī Rāma's first speech: the rise of inquiry (28 verses)

Sarga 12 at a glance

Śrī Rāma's first speech to the assembly.

Rāma introduces himself humbly and tells how, after his pilgrimage, inquiry (vicāra) arose in his mind (1.12.1–1.12.6).
His reflections: birth and death without end; things joined only by the mind's imagining; the world depending on a mind that is itself unreal (1.12.7–1.12.14).
"Who am I? What has come to me?" — and his questions: what perishes, what is born, what grows? (1.12.15–1.12.20)
His inner burning and silent weeping; how wealth and households bring him no joy (1.12.21–1.12.27).
Closing verse: sense-objects as thieves of discernment; who but the wise can fight them? (1.12.28)

Verse 1.12.1¶

वाल्मीकिरुवाच ।
इति पृष्टो मुनीन्द्रेण समाश्वस्य च राघवः ।
उवाच वचनं चारु परिपूर्णार्थमन्थरम् ॥ १.१२.१ ॥

मुनि-इन्द्रेण इति पृष्टः (asked thus by the chief of sages) राघवः समाश्वस्य च (Rāma, having composed himself) परिपूर्ण-अर्थ-मन्थरं (slow and full of meaning) चारु वचनम् उवाच (spoke beautiful words).

Translation: Vālmīki said: Asked thus by the chief of sages, Rāma composed himself and spoke beautiful words, slow and full of meaning.

Pointers for Reflection:

Rāma speaks at last. After sargas of silence, his first long speech begins. Sargas 12–31 are Rāma's discourse on the nature of worldly life.
मन्थर — slow. He speaks deliberately, weighing each word. Not an outburst of grief but considered inquiry.

Verse 1.12.2¶

श्रीराम उवाच ।
भगवन्भवता पृष्टो यथावदधुनाऽखिलम् ।
कथयाम्यहमज्ञोऽपि को लङ्घयति सद्वचः ॥ १.१२.२ ॥

भगवन् (revered one), भवता पृष्टः (asked by you) अहम् अज्ञः अपि (though ignorant) अधुना अखिलं यथावत् कथयामि (will now tell everything as it is); कः सत्-वचः लङ्घयति (who would disregard the words of the good)?

Translation: Śrī Rāma said: "Revered one, since you ask, I will tell you everything as it is, ignorant though I am. Who would disregard the words of the wise?"

Pointers for Reflection:

अज्ञोऽपि — though ignorant. Rāma's first words describe himself as ignorant. The humility of a true student, and exactly the अधिकारी of 1.2.2: not wholly ignorant, not yet a knower.
कः लङ्घयति सद्वचः. Obedience to the wise, not as servility but as trust.

Verse 1.12.3¶

अहं तावदयं जातो निजेऽस्मिन्पितृसद्मनि ।
क्रमेण वृद्धिं संप्राप्तः प्राप्तविद्यश्च संस्थितः ॥ १.१२.३ ॥

अहं तावत् अयम् (I, this one) अस्मिन् निजे पितृ-सद्मनि जातः (was born in this my father's house), क्रमेण वृद्धिं सम्प्राप्तः (grew up in due course) प्राप्त-विद्यः च संस्थितः (and completed my education).

Translation: "I was born in this, my father's house; I grew up in due course and completed my studies."

Pointers for Reflection:

Autobiography as inquiry. Rāma begins with his own life story. The Yoga Vasiṣṭha takes the seeker's life as the starting point of philosophy.

Verse 1.12.4¶

ततः सदाचारपरो भूत्वाहं मुनिनायक ।
विहृतस्तीर्थयात्रार्थमुर्वीमम्बुधिमेखलाम् ॥ १.१२.४ ॥

मुनि-नायक (chief of sages), ततः (then) अहं सत्-आचार-परः भूत्वा (devoted to right conduct) अम्बुधि-मेखलाम् उर्वीं (the earth girdled by the ocean) तीर्थ-यात्रा-अर्थं विहृतः (travelled over on pilgrimage).

Translation: "Then, devoted to right conduct, I travelled over the ocean-girdled earth on pilgrimage."

Pointers for Reflection:

The pilgrimage of Sarga 3, now told by Rāma himself.

Verse 1.12.5¶

एतावताथ कालेन संसारास्थामिमां हरन् ।
समुद्भूतो मनसि मे विचारः सोऽयमीदृशः ॥ १.१२.५ ॥

अथ (then) एतावता कालेन (in that time) इमां संसार-आस्थां हरन् (taking away this trust in worldly life) मे मनसि (in my mind) सः अयम् ईदृशः विचारः समुद्भूतः (there arose this kind of inquiry).

Translation: "During that time an inquiry arose in my mind that took away my trust in worldly life."

Pointers for Reflection:

विचार arose. Rāma names his own state precisely: not grief, but inquiry. The servants saw despair; Rāma knows it as विचार.
संसारास्था — trust in the world. It is this trust, not the world itself, that inquiry removes.

Verse 1.12.6¶

विवेकेन परीतात्मा तेनाहं तदनु स्वयम् ।
भोगनीरसया बुद्ध्या प्रविचारितवानिदम् ॥ १.१२.६ ॥

तेन विवेकेन परीत-आत्मा (filled with that discernment) तत्-अनु (thereafter) अहं स्वयं (I myself) भोग-नीरसया बुद्ध्या (with an understanding that found no taste in pleasures) इदं प्रविचारितवान् (reflected on this).

Translation: "Filled with that discernment, I then reflected for myself, with an understanding that no longer found any taste in pleasure:"

Pointers for Reflection:

विवेक, then विचार, with नीरस बुद्धि. Discernment, inquiry, and a mind that has lost its taste for pleasure. These three together define Rāma's state.
Gītā 2.59: रसवर्जं रसोऽप्यस्य परं दृष्ट्वा निवर्तते — even the taste for objects falls away when the Supreme is seen. Rāma has lost the taste (नीरस) but has not yet seen the Supreme.

Verse 1.12.7¶

किंनामेदं बत सुखं येयं संसारसंततिः ।
जायते मृतये लोको म्रियते जननाय च ॥ १.१२.७ ॥

बत (alas), इदं किं नाम सुखम् (what kind of happiness is this), या इयं संसार-सन्ततिः (this continuous flow of worldly life)? लोकः मृतये जायते (people are born to die) जननाय च म्रियते (and die to be born).

Translation: "Alas, what kind of happiness is this endless flow of worldly life? People are born only to die, and die only to be born again."

Pointers for Reflection:

Gītā 2.27:
- जातस्य हि ध्रुवो मृत्युर्ध्रुवं जन्म मृतस्य च । तस्मादपरिहार्येऽर्थे न त्वं शोचितुमर्हसि ॥
- For the born, death is certain; for the dead, birth is certain. So you should not grieve over what cannot be avoided.
- Kṛṣṇa states the same cycle to stop Arjuna's grief. Rāma states it as the cause of his. The fact is the same; the response is different.

Verse 1.12.8¶

अस्थिराः सर्व एवेमे सचराचरचेष्टिताः ।
आपदां पतयः पापा भावा विभवभूमयः ॥ १.१२.८ ॥

स-चर-अचर-चेष्टिताः (with all their movements of moving and unmoving beings) इमे सर्वे एव भावाः (all these things) अस्थिराः (are unstable), आपदां पतयः (lords of calamity) पापाः (harmful) विभव-भूमयः (the very ground of prosperity).

Translation: "All these things, moving and unmoving, are unstable. The very things that are the ground of prosperity are masters of misfortune and do harm."

Pointers for Reflection:

अस्थिर — unstable. Impermanence is Rāma's first observation. Everything that seems to promise happiness carries misfortune within it.

Verse 1.12.9¶

अयःशलाकासदृशाः परस्परमसङ्गिनः ।
श्लिष्यन्ते केवलं भावा मनःकल्पनया स्वया ॥ १.१२.९ ॥

भावाः (things) अयः-शलाका-सदृशाः (like iron rods) परस्परम् असङ्गिनः (not connected to one another) केवलं स्वया मनः-कल्पनया (only by the mind's own imagination) श्लिष्यन्ते (are joined).

Translation: "Things are like iron rods, not truly connected to one another. They are joined together only by the mind's own imagining."

Pointers for Reflection:

A profound image. The world seems to be a web of connected things. Rāma sees that the connections — "mine", "my son", "my kingdom" — are made by the mind (कल्पना, 1.10.38).
A Buddhist echo. The idea that things are without inherent connection, and that relations are mental constructions, is close to Buddhist thought on dependent arising and the emptiness of inherent existence — another thread of the synthesis (see the synthesis of traditions).

Verse 1.12.10¶

मनःसमायत्तमिदं जगदाभोगि दृश्यते ।
मनश्चासदिवाभाति केन स्म परिमोहिताः ॥ १.१२.१० ॥

इदं जगत् (this world) मनः-समायत्तम् (dependent on the mind) आभोगि दृश्यते (appears full of enjoyment); मनः च असत् इव आभाति (and the mind itself appears unreal). केन स्म परिमोहिताः (by what are we so deluded)?

Translation: "This world, so full of pleasures, depends wholly on the mind — and the mind itself seems unreal. By what, then, are we so deluded?"

Pointers for Reflection:

The mind's own unreality. Rāma goes a step further: if the world depends on the mind, and the mind is itself insubstantial, what is holding the delusion in place? This is exactly the question Vasiṣṭha will answer.
Maitrāyaṇī Upaniṣad 6.34 (at 1.3.9): मन एव मनुष्याणां कारणं बन्धमोक्षयोः — the mind alone is the cause of bondage and liberation.

Verse 1.12.11¶

असतैव वयं कष्टं विकृष्टा मूढबुद्धयः ।
मृगतृष्णाम्भसा दूरे वने मुग्धमृगा इव ॥ १.१२.११ ॥

वयं (we) मूढ-बुद्धयः (of deluded understanding) असता एव (by what is unreal) कष्टं विकृष्टाः (painfully dragged), दूरे वने मृगतृष्णा-अम्भसा मुग्ध-मृगाः इव (like foolish deer in a distant forest, by the water of a mirage).

Translation: "With our minds deluded, we are painfully dragged along by what is unreal, like foolish deer in a far forest drawn on by the water of a mirage."

Pointers for Reflection:

The mirage. The classic Vedāntic image: water seen in the desert that is never there. Rāma uses it of all worldly pursuit.
Gītā 2.62 describes the dragging: ध्यायतो विषयान्पुंसः सङ्गस्तेषूपजायते — dwelling on objects, attachment to them arises — and so the chain begins.

Verse 1.12.12¶

न केनचिच्च विक्रीता विक्रीता इव संस्थिताः ।
बत मूढा वयं सर्वे जानाना अपि शाम्बरम् ॥ १.१२.१२ ॥

केनचित् न च विक्रीताः (sold by no one) विक्रीताः इव संस्थिताः (yet we live like slaves who have been sold); बत (alas), वयं सर्वे (all of us) शाम्बरं जानानाः अपि (though we know it is Śambara's magic) मूढाः (are deluded).

Translation: "No one has sold us, yet we live like slaves. Alas, we are all deluded, though we know it is only Śambara's magic show."

Pointers for Reflection:

Self-enslavement. No one has bound us; we bind ourselves. A recurring insight of the Yoga Vasiṣṭha.
शाम्बर — Śambara's magic. Śambara was a demon-magician. We know the world is a kind of conjuring trick, yet we are still fooled. Knowing is not yet freedom.

Verse 1.12.13¶

किमेतेषु प्रपञ्चेषु भोगा नाम सुदुर्भगाः ।
मुधैव हि वयं मोहात्संस्थिता बद्धभावनाः ॥ १.१२.१३ ॥

एतेषु प्रपञ्चेषु (in these worldly displays) सु-दुर्भगाः भोगाः नाम किम् (what are these wretched pleasures)? वयं मोहात् (we, through delusion) बद्ध-भावनाः (with our thoughts bound) मुधा एव हि संस्थिताः (stand here in vain).

Translation: "What are these wretched pleasures in this display of the world? Through delusion, our thoughts bound to them, we live in vain."

Pointers for Reflection:

प्रपञ्च — the manifold world. A term later central to Vedānta: the world of multiplicity, here seen as a display (as at a show).

Verse 1.12.14¶

आ ज्ञातं बहुकालेन व्यर्थमेव वयं वने ।
मोहे निपतिता मुग्धाः श्वभ्रे मुग्धा मृगा इव ॥ १.१२.१४ ॥

आ (ah)! बहु-कालेन ज्ञातम् (after a long time it is known): वयं व्यर्थम् एव (we, quite in vain) वने मोहे निपतिताः (have fallen into delusion in the forest), मुग्धाः मृगाः श्वभ्रे इव (like foolish deer into a pit).

Translation: "Ah! After so long, I see it: we have fallen in vain into the pit of delusion in this forest, like foolish deer."

Pointers for Reflection:

आ ज्ञातम् — "Ah, now I see!" A moment of recognition. Rāma speaks as one who has just understood something he can no longer un-see.

Verse 1.12.15¶

किं मे राज्येन किं भोगैः कोऽहं किमिदमागतम् ।
यन्मिथ्यैवास्तु तन्मिथ्या कस्य नाम किमागतम् ॥ १.१२.१५ ॥

मे राज्येन किम् (what is a kingdom to me)? भोगैः किम् (what are pleasures)? कः अहम् (who am I)? किम् इदम् आगतम् (what is this that has come)? यत् मिथ्या एव, तत् मिथ्या अस्तु (let what is false be false); कस्य नाम किम् आगतम् (to whom, really, has anything come)?

Translation: "What is a kingdom to me? What are pleasures? Who am I? What is all this that has come to me? Let what is false be false — to whom has anything really come?"

Pointers for Reflection:

कोऽहम् — "Who am I?" The central question of all inquiry, here on Rāma's lips in the first speech. Later teachers (such as Ramaṇa Maharṣi) would make this question the whole path.
Aitareya Upaniṣad 3.1.1: कोऽयमात्मेति वयमुपास्महे — who is this Self, that we may worship it?
The theme of questions worth asking, at its heart. Of all the questions worth asking, this is the first. Rāma asks it at fifteen.

Verse 1.12.16¶

एवं विमृशतो ब्रह्मन्सर्वेष्वेव ततो मम ।
भावेष्वरतिरायाता पथिकस्य मरुष्विव ॥ १.१२.१६ ॥

ब्रह्मन् (O sage), एवं विमृशतः मम (as I reflected thus) ततः (then) सर्वेषु एव भावेषु (towards all things) अरतिः आयाता (distaste arose), पथिकस्य मरुषु इव (as a traveller's for deserts).

Translation: "As I reflected like this, O sage, a distaste for everything arose in me, as a traveller comes to dislike the desert."

Pointers for Reflection:

अरति — distaste. Rāma honestly reports his state: not peace, but aversion. The teaching will transform aversion into freedom (see 1.10.46).

Verse 1.12.17¶

तदेतद्भगवन्ब्रूहि किमिदं परिणश्यति ।
किमिदं जायते भूयः किमिदं परिवर्धते ॥ १.१२.१७ ॥

भगवन् (revered one), तत् एतत् ब्रूहि (tell me this): इदं किं परिणश्यति (what is it that perishes)? इदं किं भूयः जायते (what is it that is born again)? इदं किं परिवर्धते (what is it that grows)?

Translation: "Tell me this, revered one: what is it that perishes? What is born again? What grows?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Gītā 2.20 — what does not perish:
- न जायते म्रियते वा कदाचिन्नायं भूत्वा भविता वा न भूयः । अजो नित्यः शाश्वतोऽयं पुराणो न हन्यते हन्यमाने शरीरे ॥
- It is never born and never dies; having been, it does not cease to be. Unborn, eternal, everlasting, ancient, it is not slain when the body is slain.
- Rāma asks what is born, grows and dies. Kṛṣṇa's answer: not the Self. The question itself points to something that does not change.
The question behind the questions. Rāma is no longer asking about his kingdom or his feelings, but about the nature of change itself.

Verse 1.12.18¶

जरामरणमापच्च जननं संपदस्तथा ।
आविर्भावतिरोभावैर्विवर्धन्ते पुनःपुनः ॥ १.१२.१८ ॥

जरा-मरणम् (old age and death) आपत् च (and misfortune) जननं (birth) तथा सम्पदः (and prosperity) आविर्भाव-तिरोभावैः (by appearing and disappearing) पुनः पुनः विवर्धन्ते (grow again and again).

Translation: "Old age and death, misfortune, birth and prosperity keep growing, again and again, through appearing and disappearing."

Pointers for Reflection:

Gītā 13.8 — seeing this is knowledge:
- इन्द्रियार्थेषु वैराग्यमनहङ्कार एव च । जन्ममृत्युजराव्याधिदुःखदोषानुदर्शनम् ॥
- Dispassion towards sense-objects, absence of ego, and seeing the evil of birth, death, old age, sickness and sorrow.
- The Gītā counts this very reflection among the marks of knowledge (ज्ञान). Rāma is already practising it.
आविर्भाव, तिरोभाव — appearing and disappearing. Compare 1.1.1 (प्रतिभान्ति, उपशमं यान्ति). Everything is a coming into view and a going out of view.

Verse 1.12.19¶

भोगैस्तैरेव तैरेव तुच्छैर्वयममी किल ।
पश्य जर्जरतां नीता वातैरिव गिरिद्रुमाः ॥ १.१२.१९ ॥

पश्य (see) अमी वयं (we here) तैः एव तैः एव तुच्छैः भोगैः (by these very same trifling pleasures) वातैः गिरि-द्रुमाः इव (like mountain trees by winds) जर्जरतां नीताः किल (have been worn down).

Translation: "See how we are worn down by these same trifling pleasures again and again, like trees on a mountain by the winds."

Pointers for Reflection:

The same pleasures, over and over. Repetition reveals their emptiness. Compare 1.2.30, where the free live through the same acts without being worn down.

Verse 1.12.20¶

अचेतना इव जनाः पवनैः प्राणनामभिः ।
ध्वनन्तः संस्थिता व्यर्थं यथा कीचकवेणवः ॥ १.१२.२० ॥

जनाः (people) अचेतनाः इव (as if lifeless) प्राण-नामभिः पवनैः (with the winds called life-breaths) व्यर्थं ध्वनन्तः संस्थिताः (stand making sound in vain), यथा कीचक-वेणवः (like hollow bamboos [whistling in the wind]).

Translation: "People stand like lifeless things, the winds we call 'life-breath' blowing through them, making sound in vain, like hollow bamboos whistling in the wind."

Pointers for Reflection:

Hollow bamboos. Life without awareness is like wind passing through hollow reeds: sound without meaning. A haunting image.
Kena Upaniṣad 1.2: प्राणस्य प्राणः — the Self is the breath of the breath. Rāma sees the breath without yet seeing what breathes it.

Verse 1.12.21¶

शाम्यतीदं कथं दुःखमिति तप्तोऽस्मि चिन्तया ।
जरद्द्रुम इवोग्रेण कोटरस्थेन वह्निना ॥ १.१२.२१ ॥

इदं दुःखं कथं शाम्यति (how can this sorrow be stilled)? इति चिन्तया (with this worry) तप्तः अस्मि (I burn), जरत्-द्रुमः इव (like an old tree) उग्रेण कोटर-स्थेन वह्निना (by a fierce fire in its hollow).

Translation: "'How can this sorrow be ended?' — with this worry I burn, like an old tree with a fierce fire inside its hollow trunk."

Pointers for Reflection:

The real question. After all his observations, Rāma comes to the practical question: how can sorrow end? This is the question the whole teaching answers.
Fire inside the tree. From outside, the tree looks whole; inside, it is burning. Rāma's calm exterior (1.11.15–19) hides an inner fire.

Verse 1.12.22¶

संसारदुःखपाषाणनीरन्ध्रहृदयोऽप्यहम् ।
निजलोकभयादेव गलद्वाष्पं न रोदिमि ॥ १.१२.२२ ॥

संसार-दुःख-पाषाण-नीरन्ध्र-हृदयः अपि अहं (though my heart is closed like stone by the sorrows of the world) निज-लोक-भयात् एव (only out of fear of my people) गलत्-बाष्पं न रोदिमि (I do not weep with flowing tears).

Translation: "Though my heart has turned to stone under the world's sorrows, I do not weep openly, only for fear of my people."

Pointers for Reflection:

Holding back tears. A young prince who cannot show his grief because of his position. A very human detail.
Why he said "no sorrow". This explains 1.5.12 ("I have no sorrow, father"): not denial, but restraint for others' sake.

Verse 1.12.23¶

शून्या मन्मुखवृत्तीस्ताः शुष्करोदननीरसाः ।
विवेक एव हृत्संस्थो ममैकान्तेषु पश्यति ॥ १.१२.२३ ॥

ताः मत्-मुख-वृत्तीः (those expressions of my face) शुष्क-रोदन-नीरसाः (dry from tearless weeping) शून्याः [सन्ति] (are empty); मम हृत्-संस्थः विवेकः एव (only the discernment dwelling in my heart) एकान्तेषु पश्यति (sees them, in solitude).

Translation: "My face is empty, dried by tearless weeping. Only the discernment in my heart, in solitude, sees what I feel."

Pointers for Reflection:

Viveka as witness. In solitude, only his own discernment knows his sorrow. The beginning of the inner witness the teaching will reveal.

Verse 1.12.24¶

भृशं मुह्यामि संस्मृत्य भावाभावमयीं स्थितिम् ।
दारिद्र्येणेव सुभगो दूरे संसारचेष्टया ॥ १.१२.२४ ॥

भाव-अभाव-मयीं स्थितिं संस्मृत्य (remembering this state made of being and non-being) भृशं मुह्यामि (I am deeply bewildered), दारिद्र्येण सु-भगः इव (like a fortunate man by poverty) संसार-चेष्टया दूरे [स्थितः] (keeping far from worldly activity).

Translation: "Remembering this state of existence, made of being and non-being, I am deeply bewildered, and keep far from worldly activity, as a fortunate man keeps far from poverty."

Pointers for Reflection:

भावाभाव — being and non-being. Things appear and disappear. Rāma is bewildered by this fluctuation. The teaching will show the ground of both.

Verse 1.12.25¶

मोहयन्ति मनोवृत्तिं खण्डयन्ति गुणावलिम् ।
दुःखजालं प्रयच्छन्ति विप्रलम्भपराः श्रियः ॥ १.१२.२५ ॥

विप्रलम्भ-पराः श्रियः (fortunes, intent on deception) मनः-वृत्तिं मोहयन्ति (delude the mind) गुण-आवलिं खण्डयन्ति (break the chain of virtues) दुःख-जालं प्रयच्छन्ति (and give a net of sorrows).

Translation: "Fortunes, bent on deceiving, delude the mind, break up the chain of virtues, and give us a net of sorrows."

Pointers for Reflection:

श्री — fortune, prosperity. Sarga 13 will be devoted entirely to this. Here Rāma introduces the theme.

Verse 1.12.26¶

चिन्तानिचयचक्राणि नानन्दाय धनानि मे ।
संप्रसूतकलत्राणि गृहाण्युग्रापदामिव ॥ १.१२.२६ ॥

चिन्ता-निचय-चक्राणि (wheels of piled-up worries) धनानि (riches) मे आनन्दाय न [भवन्ति] (bring me no joy), सम्प्रसूत-कलत्राणि गृहाणि (households with wives and children) उग्र-आपदाम् इव (as if [homes] of terrible misfortunes).

Translation: "Riches, wheels of endless worry, give me no joy; households with wives and children seem to me homes of terrible misfortune."

Pointers for Reflection:

A hard saying, from a young man in crisis. The text will not leave Rāma in this view. In the end he will live a full householder's life (see wisdom lived, not renounced). Here we see the extreme from which he will be brought back.

Verse 1.12.27¶

विविधदोषदशापरिचिन्तनैर्विततभङ्गुरकारणकल्पितैः ।
मम न निर्वृतिमेति मनो मुने निगडितस्य यथा वनदन्तिनः ॥ १.१२.२७ ॥

मुने (O sage), वितत-भङ्गुर-कारण-कल्पितैः (born of widespread perishable causes) विविध-दोष-दशा-परिचिन्तनैः (by brooding on states of many faults) मम मनः (my mind) निगडितस्य वन-दन्तिनः यथा (like a chained forest elephant) निर्वृतिं न एति (finds no peace).

Translation: "Brooding on so many states of misery, all arising from perishable causes, my mind finds no peace, O sage, like a wild elephant in chains."

Pointers for Reflection:

A closing-style verse in a longer metre (drutavilambita).
The chained elephant. A wild creature, made for freedom, held fast. Rāma's mind longs for the forest of freedom but is chained by thought.

Verse 1.12.28¶

खलाः कालेकाले निशि निशितमोहैकमिहिकागतालोके लोके विषयशतचौराः सुचतुराः ।
प्रवृत्ताः प्रोद्युक्ता दिशिदिशि विवेकैकहरणे रणे शक्तास्तेषां क इव विदुषःप्रोज्झ्य सुभटाः ॥ १.१२.२८ ॥

काले काले (at every time) निशि (in the night) निशित-मोह-एक-मिहिका-गत-आलोके लोके (in this world, whose light is lost in the sharp mist of delusion) सु-चतुराः विषय-शत-चौराः खलाः (wicked, clever thieves — the hundreds of sense-objects) दिशि दिशि (in every direction) विवेक-एक-हरणे प्रोद्युक्ताः प्रवृत्ताः (are busy, set on stealing discernment alone); रणे (in that battle) विदुषः प्रोज्झ्य (apart from the wise) के इव तेषां शक्ताः सुभटाः (what heroes can stand against them)?

Translation: "In this world, whose light is lost in the mist of delusion, clever thieves — the hundreds of sense-objects — are everywhere, day and night, bent on stealing the one treasure of discernment. Who but the wise are heroes enough to fight them?"

Pointers for Reflection:

A closing verse in a very long metre (śikhariṇī).
Viveka as treasure. Of all things, discernment is what sense-objects steal. Rāma values it above kingdom and wealth.
Gītā 2.60: इन्द्रियाणि प्रमाथीनि हरन्ति प्रसभं मनः — the turbulent senses forcibly carry away the mind. Rāma's thieves are the Gītā's raiders.
"Who but the wise?" Rāma ends his first speech by turning to the sages. The question is also a request: teach me to be such a hero.