Sarga 13¶

Vairāgya Prakaraṇa · On fortune (Lakṣmī) (22 verses)

Sarga 13 at a glance

Śrī Rāma's speech continues: on fortune (Lakṣmī).

Fortune deludes, is fickle, and brings only worry and harm (1.13.1–1.13.10).
Three rare kinds of people: the rich without blame, the brave without boasting, the powerful who are impartial (1.13.11).
A long garland of images: fortune as night, frost, eclipse, rainbow, lightning, mirage, wave, flame, lioness, sword (1.13.12–1.13.19).
Rāma's conclusion: in fortune he sees no happiness, only sorrow (1.13.20–1.13.22).

Verse 1.13.1¶

श्रीराम उवाच ।
इयमस्मिन्स्थितोदारा संसारे परिकल्पिता ।
श्रीर्मुने परिमोहाय सापि नूनं कदर्थदा ॥ १.१३.१ ॥

मुने (O sage), अस्मिन् संसारे (in this world) स्थित-उदारा परिकल्पिता इयं श्रीः (this fortune, imagined to be so grand and lasting) परिमोहाय [भवति] (exists to delude); सा अपि नूनं कदर्थ-दा (it surely brings only misery).

Translation: Śrī Rāma said: "O sage, this fortune in the world, imagined to be so grand and lasting, exists only to delude. Surely it brings nothing but misery."

Pointers for Reflection:

श्री or लक्ष्मी — fortune, wealth, prosperity. This whole sarga is Rāma's meditation on wealth. In Indian tradition Lakṣmī is a goddess; here she is personified as a fickle, deceiving woman.
परिकल्पिता — imagined. Fortune's grandeur is a construction of the mind (compare कल्पना, 1.10.38).
Kaṭha Upaniṣad 1.1.27: न वित्तेन तर्पणीयो मनुष्यः — a person cannot be satisfied with wealth. Naciketas' answer to Yama's offer of riches.

Verse 1.13.2¶

उल्लासबहुलानन्तकल्लोलानलमाकुलान् ।
जडान्प्रवहति स्फारान्प्रावृषीव तरङ्गिणी ॥ १.१३.२ ॥

[सा] प्रावृषि तरङ्गिणी इव (like a river in the rains) उल्लास-बहुल-अनन्त-कल्लोल-अनल-माकुलान् (agitated by countless waves of excitement) स्फारान् जडान् (swollen, dull [people]) प्रवहति (sweeps along).

Translation: "Like a river in the monsoon, fortune sweeps along dull, puffed-up people, tossing them on endless waves of excitement."

Pointers for Reflection:

Swept away. Wealth does not carry its owners; it carries them off. The river image recurs throughout the Vairāgya Prakaraṇa.

Verse 1.13.3¶

चिन्तादुहितरो बह्वयो भूरिदुर्ललितैधिताः ।
चञ्चलाः प्रभवन्त्यस्यास्तरङ्गाः सरितो यथा ॥ १.१३.३ ॥

अस्याः (from it) भूरि-दुर्ललित-एधिताः (fed by much indulgence) बह्व्यः चञ्चलाः चिन्ता-दुहितरः (many restless daughters called worries) सरितः तरङ्गाः यथा (like waves of a river) प्रभवन्ति (are born).

Translation: "From it are born many restless daughters called Worry, fed by much indulgence, like waves rising from a river."

Pointers for Reflection:

Worries as daughters of wealth. The more one has, the more one worries about keeping it. A psychological truth in poetic form.

Verse 1.13.4¶

एषा हि पदमेकत्र न निबध्नाति दुर्भगा ।
दग्धेवानियताचारमितश्चेतश्च धावति ॥ १.१३.४ ॥

एषा दुर्भगा हि (this wretched one) एकत्र पदं न निबध्नाति (never sets her foot in one place); दग्धा इव (as if burned) अनियत-आचारम् (with no fixed course) इतः च इतः च धावति (runs here and there).

Translation: "This wretched one never stays in one place. As if scorched, she runs here and there with no fixed course."

Pointers for Reflection:

Fortune is fickle. In Indian imagery, Lakṣmī is चञ्चला, restless, never staying with one person. Rāma sees this as her essence.

Verse 1.13.5¶

जनयन्ती परं दाहं परामृष्टाङ्गिका सती ।
विनाशमेव धत्तेऽन्तर्दीपलेखेव कज्जलम् ॥ १.१३.५ ॥

परामृष्ट-अङ्गिका सती (when touched) परं दाहं जनयन्ती (producing great burning), [सा] अन्तः-दीप-लेखा कज्जलम् इव (as a lamp's flame [produces] soot) विनाशम् एव धत्ते (holds only destruction).

Translation: "Touched, she produces only burning; like a lamp's flame that produces soot, she holds only destruction within."

Pointers for Reflection:

The flame and the soot. Wealth gives light, and also leaves black soot. Its brightness comes with a hidden residue.

Verse 1.13.6¶

गुणागुणविचारेण विनैव किल पार्श्वगम् ।
राजप्रकृतिवन्मूढा दुरारूढाऽवलम्बते ॥ १.१३.६ ॥

[सा] मूढा (foolish) दुर्-आरूढा (hard to keep hold of) राज-प्रकृति-वत् (like a king's subjects or a king's nature) गुण-अगुण-विचारेण विना एव किल (without regard to merit or fault) पार्श्व-गम् अवलम्बते (clings to whoever is nearby).

Translation: "Foolish and hard to hold, like a king's favour, she clings to whoever is nearby, without regard to merit or fault."

Pointers for Reflection:

Wealth without justice. Fortune does not go to the deserving but to whoever happens to be near. Rāma observes the arbitrariness of prosperity.

Verse 1.13.7¶

कर्मणा तेनतेनैषा विस्तारमनुगच्छति ।
दोषाशीविषवेगस्य यत्क्षीरं विस्तरायते ॥ १.१३.७ ॥

एषा (she) तेन तेन कर्मणा (by each and every action) विस्तारम् अनुगच्छति (grows wider), यत् (like) दोष-आशीविष-वेगस्य क्षीरं (milk for the venomous serpent of faults) विस्तरायते (that increases it).

Translation: "With every action she spreads further — like milk that only feeds the poisonous snake of our faults."

Pointers for Reflection:

Feeding the snake. Giving milk to a snake does not make it less poisonous; it makes it stronger. Wealth feeds our faults rather than curing them.

Verse 1.13.8¶

तावच्छीतमृदुस्पर्शाः परे स्वे च जने जनाः ।
वात्ययेव हिमं यावच्छ्रिया न परुषीकृताः ॥ १.१३.८ ॥

यावत् श्रिया (until by wealth) वात्यया हिमम् इव (as snow by a gale) परुषी-कृताः न [भवन्ति] (they are made harsh), तावत् (so long) जनाः (people) परे स्वे च जने (to strangers and to their own) शीत-मृदु-स्पर्शाः (are cool and gentle to the touch).

Translation: "People are gentle and kind to strangers and their own alike — until wealth hardens them, as a gale hardens snow."

Pointers for Reflection:

Wealth changes character. A sharp observation: prosperity often hardens the heart.
Gītā 16.13–15 describes the wealthy who think इदमद्य मया लब्धम् — this I have gained today — and grow arrogant.

Verse 1.13.9¶

प्राज्ञाः शूराः कृतज्ञाश्च पेशला मृदवश्च ये ।
पांसुमुष्ट्येव मणयः श्रिया ते मलिनीकृताः ॥ १.१३.९ ॥

ये (those who are) प्राज्ञाः शूराः कृत-ज्ञाः च (wise, brave and grateful) पेशलाः मृदवः च (pleasant and gentle), ते (they) श्रिया (by wealth) पांसु-मुष्ट्या मणयः इव (like gems by a fistful of dust) मलिनी-कृताः (are tarnished).

Translation: "The wise, the brave, the grateful, the pleasant and gentle — all are tarnished by wealth, as gems are dulled by a fistful of dust."

Pointers for Reflection:

Dust on gems. Good qualities are not destroyed by wealth, but covered. Compare the stain (मल) on the pure Self (1.2.24).

Verse 1.13.10¶

न श्रीः सुखाय भगवन्दुःखायैव हि वर्धते ।
गुप्ता विनाशनं धत्ते मृतिं विषलता यथा ॥ १.१३.१० ॥

भगवन् (revered one), श्रीः सुखाय न [भवति] (fortune is not for happiness); दुःखाय एव हि वर्धते (it grows only for sorrow); गुप्ता [सती] (guarded) विष-लता यथा मृतिं [धत्ते] (like a poison creeper [that holds] death) विनाशनं धत्ते (it holds destruction).

Translation: "Revered one, fortune does not bring happiness; it grows only for sorrow. Guarded carefully, it holds destruction, as a poison vine holds death."

Pointers for Reflection:

Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad 2.4.2:
- अमृतत्वस्य तु नाशास्ति वित्तेन
- There is no hope of immortality through wealth.
- Yājñavalkya's words to Maitreyī, when she asks whether the whole earth full of wealth would make her immortal. She replies: येनाहं नामृता स्यां किमहं तेन कुर्याम् — what shall I do with that which will not make me immortal? Maitreyī and Rāma reach the same conclusion.

Verse 1.13.11¶

श्रीमानजननिन्द्यश्च शूरश्चाप्यविकत्थनः ।
समदृष्टिः प्रभुश्चैव दुर्लभाः पुरुषास्त्रयः ॥ १.१३.११ ॥

श्रीमान् अ-जन-निन्द्यः च (rich yet not criticised by people) शूरः च अपि अविकत्थनः (brave yet not boastful) सम-दृष्टिः प्रभुः च एव (powerful yet impartial) — [इमे] त्रयः पुरुषाः दुर्लभाः (these three kinds of people are rare).

Translation: "Three kinds of people are rare: the rich who are not criticised, the brave who do not boast, and the powerful who treat all alike."

Pointers for Reflection:

A famous verse. A sharp observation on power and character, often quoted on its own.
समदृष्टि — equal vision in the powerful. This is what Rāma will become: a king with equal vision (1.11.7, समलोष्टाश्मकाञ्चनः).
Gītā 5.18: विद्याविनयसम्पन्ने ब्राह्मणे गवि हस्तिनि । शुनि चैव श्वपाके च पण्डिताः समदर्शिनः ॥ — the wise see equally a learned brāhmaṇa, a cow, an elephant, a dog and an outcaste.

Verse 1.13.12¶

एषा हि विषमा दुःखभोगिनां गहना गुहा ।
घनमोहगजेन्द्राणां विन्ध्यशैलमहातटी ॥ १.१३.१२ ॥

एषा हि (she indeed) दुःख-भोगिनां (for those who enjoy sorrows [serpents]) विषमा गहना गुहा (a rugged, dense cave), घन-मोह-गज-इन्द्राणां (for great elephants of thick delusion) विन्ध्य-शैल-महा-तटी (a great slope of the Vindhya mountains).

Translation: "She is a rough, dark cave for the serpents of sorrow, and a great Vindhya slope for the mighty elephants of delusion."

Pointers for Reflection:

A series of metaphors begins (1.13.12–1.13.19). Each pairs wealth with a destructive image. Read them as a poem, not a list.

Verse 1.13.13¶

सत्कार्यपद्मरजनी दुःखकैरवचन्द्रिका ।
सुदृष्टिदीपिकावात्या कल्लोलौघतरङ्गिणी ॥ १.१३.१३ ॥

[सा] सत्-कार्य-पद्म-रजनी (night to the lotus of good deeds) दुःख-कैरव-चन्द्रिका (moonlight to the night-lily of sorrow) सु-दृष्टि-दीपिका-वात्या (gale to the lamp of right vision) कल्लोल-ओघ-तरङ्गिणी (a river of surging waves).

Translation: "She is night to the lotus of good deeds, moonlight to the night-lily of sorrow, a gale to the lamp of right vision, a river of surging waves."

Pointers for Reflection:

Day-lotus and night-lily. The lotus opens by day, the night-lily (कैरव) by moonlight. Wealth closes good deeds and opens sorrows.

Verse 1.13.14¶

संभ्रमाभ्रादिपदवी विषादविषवर्धिनी ।
केदारिका विकल्पानां खेदायभयभोगिनी ॥ १.१३.१४ ॥

[सा] सम्भ्रम-अभ्र-आदि-पदवी (a path for the clouds of confusion) विषाद-विष-वर्धिनी (an increaser of the poison of despondency) विकल्पानां केदारिका (a field for doubts) खेदाय भय-भोगिनी (a serpent of fear, bringing distress).

Translation: "She is a pathway for clouds of confusion, a feeder of the poison of despair, a field where doubts grow, a serpent of fear bringing distress."

Pointers for Reflection:

विकल्प — doubt, mental alternatives. Wealth multiplies choices and worries. Compare the restless mind of Sarga 16.

Verse 1.13.15¶

हिमं वैराग्यवल्लीनां विकारोलूकयामिनी ।
राहुदंष्ट्रा विवेकेन्दोः सौजन्याम्भोजचन्द्रिका ॥ १.१३.१५ ॥

[सा] वैराग्य-वल्लीनां हिमम् (frost to the creepers of dispassion) विकार-उलूक-यामिनी (night for the owls of agitation) विवेक-इन्दोः राहु-दंष्ट्रा (Rāhu's fang to the moon of discernment) सौजन्य-अम्भोज-चन्द्रिका (moonlight to the lotus of goodness).

Translation: "She is frost to the vines of dispassion, night for the owls of agitation, Rāhu's fang that swallows the moon of discernment, moonlight that closes the lotus of goodness."

Pointers for Reflection:

Frost on dispassion, eclipse of discernment. Wealth attacks the very qualities Rāma has gained: वैराग्य and विवेक. This is why he fears it.
Rāhu is the demon who swallows the moon in an eclipse. Wealth eclipses discernment.

Verse 1.13.16¶

इन्द्रायुधवदालोलनानारागमनोहरा ।
लोला तडिदिवोत्पन्नध्वंसिनी च जडाश्रया ॥ १.१३.१६ ॥

[सा] इन्द्र-आयुध-वत् (like a rainbow) आलोल-नाना-राग-मनोहरा (charming with many shifting colours) लोला (fickle), तडित् इव (like lightning) उत्पन्न-ध्वंसिनी (vanishing as soon as it appears) जड-आश्रया च (and resting with the dull).

Translation: "Like a rainbow, she charms with many shifting colours; fickle as lightning, she vanishes as soon as she appears; and she rests with the dull-witted."

Pointers for Reflection:

Rainbow and lightning. Both beautiful, both momentary. Wealth as an appearance, not a substance — the teaching of 1.3.2 (the blue of the sky).

Verse 1.13.17¶

चापलावजितारण्य नकुली नकुलीनजा ।
विप्रलम्भनतात्पर्यजितोग्रमृगतृष्णिका ॥ १.१३.१७ ॥

[सा] चापल-अव-जित-अरण्य-नकुली (surpassing a forest mongoose in fickleness) न कुलीन-जा (not born of a noble family) विप्रलम्भन-तात्पर्य-जित-उग्र-मृगतृष्णिका (outdoing the fierce mirage in her intent to deceive).

Translation: "She outdoes the forest mongoose in fickleness; she is of no noble birth; and in her power to deceive, she outdoes even the desert mirage."

Pointers for Reflection:

A pun. नकुली (mongoose) and न कुलीनजा (not nobly born) play on the same sounds — one of many plays on words in this sarga.
Reading note. The online text reads चापलावजितारण्य नकुली नकुलीनजा; the compound is difficult, and the sense given here follows the online word division.

Verse 1.13.18¶

लहरीवैकरूपेण पदं क्षणमकुर्वती ।
चला दीपशिखेवातिदुर्ज्ञेयगतिगोचरा ॥ १.१३.१८ ॥

[सा] लहरी इव (like a wave) एक-रूपेण क्षणं पदम् अकुर्वती (not keeping one form even for a moment) दीप-शिखा इव चला (unsteady as a lamp's flame) अति-दुर्ज्ञेय-गति-गोचरा (whose course is very hard to know).

Translation: "Like a wave, she never keeps one form even for a moment; unsteady as a lamp's flame, her movements are almost impossible to follow."

Pointers for Reflection:

The wave and the flame. Two images of change that Rāma will soon apply to the mind itself (Sarga 16). Wealth's instability mirrors the mind's.

Verse 1.13.19¶

सिंहीव विग्रहव्यग्रकरीन्द्रकुलपोथिनी ।
खड्गधारेव शिशिरा तीक्ष्णतीक्ष्णाशयाश्रया ॥ १.१३.१९ ॥

[सा] सिंही इव (like a lioness) विग्रह-व्यग्र-करि-इन्द्र-कुल-पोथिनी (crushing whole herds of great elephants intent on battle) खड्ग-धारा इव (like a sword's edge) शिशिरा (cool) तीक्ष्ण-तीक्ष्ण-आशय-आश्रया (resting with the sharp-minded).

Translation: "Like a lioness, she crushes herds of mighty war-elephants; like a sword's edge, she is cool to the touch, yet keen, and stays with the sharp and cunning."

Pointers for Reflection:

Cool yet deadly. A sword's edge feels cool, but cuts. Wealth seems pleasant, but wounds.

Verse 1.13.20¶

नानयापहृतार्थिन्या दुराधिपरिलीनया ।
पश्याम्यभव्यया लक्ष्म्या किंचिद्दुःखादृते सुखम् ॥ १.१३.२० ॥

अनया (by this) अपहृत-अर्थिन्या (who takes away from those who seek her) दुर्-आधि-परिलीनया (immersed in grievous anxieties) अभव्यया लक्ष्म्या (inauspicious fortune) दुःखात् ऋते (apart from sorrow) किञ्चित् सुखं न पश्यामि (I see no happiness at all).

Translation: "In this inauspicious fortune, which robs those who seek her and is steeped in anxieties, I see no happiness at all — only sorrow."

Pointers for Reflection:

Rāma's conclusion. He sees no happiness in wealth. This is his honest view at this stage, before he learns that freedom lies not in having or not having, but in not being bound.

Verse 1.13.21¶

दूरेणोत्सारिताऽलक्ष्म्या पुनरेव समादरात् ।
अहो बताश्लिष्यतीव निर्लज्जा दुर्जना सदा ॥ १.१३.२१ ॥

अहो बत (alas, how strange) अलक्ष्म्या (by misfortune) दूरेण उत्सारिता (though driven far away) [सा] पुनः एव समादरात् (she returns with eagerness) निर्लज्जा दुर्जना सदा (shameless and wicked always) आश्लिष्यति इव (as if to embrace again).

Translation: "Alas! Though misfortune drives her far away, back she comes eagerly, shameless and wicked as ever, as if to embrace us again."

Pointers for Reflection:

The cycle. Fortune leaves and returns. The rise and fall of wealth is endless (compare 1.8.29, vibhūtis rising and dissolving in time).

Verse 1.13.22¶

मनोरमा कर्षति चित्तवृत्तिं कदर्थसाध्या क्षणभङ्गुरा च ।
व्यालावलीगात्रविवृत्तदेहा श्वभ्रोत्थिता पुष्पलतेव लक्ष्मीः ॥ १.१३.२२ ॥

लक्ष्मीः (fortune) मनोरमा (charming) चित्त-वृत्तिं कर्षति (draws away the mind) कदर्थ-साध्या (won only through misery) क्षण-भङ्गुरा च (and breaking in a moment), श्वभ्र-उत्थिता पुष्प-लता इव (like a flowering vine growing from a pit) व्याल-आवली-गात्र-विवृत्त-देहा (its body entwined with the coils of serpents).

Translation: Fortune is charming and draws the mind away; she is won only through misery and breaks in a moment — like a flowering vine growing out of a pit, its stem wound about with snakes.

Pointers for Reflection:

A closing verse in a longer metre (upajāti).
The flowering vine in a pit. Beautiful flowers, but growing from a pit and entwined with snakes. To reach the flowers, one must risk the fall and the bite. The perfect image for the whole sarga.
A note on Rāma's view. Rāma will not, in the end, renounce wealth: he will be a king. What the teaching changes is not his possessions but his relationship to them (Gītā 2.48, सङ्गं त्यक्त्वा).