Sarga 29¶

Vairāgya Prakaraṇa · Rāma's resolve (23 verses)

Sarga 29 at a glance

Śrī Rāma's speech approaches its end: where he now stands.

Hopes for pleasure no longer stir in him; the world grows bitter, goodness grows thin (1.29.1–1.29.7).
"I do not welcome death, nor do I welcome life; as I am, so I remain, free of fever." The ego has fallen away (1.29.8–1.29.12).
Sense-objects are worse than poison; for the knower nothing binds — "teach me to become such a knower" (1.29.13–1.29.17).
With what lamp of knowledge will you pierce the fog of my heart? Rāma sets a firm seal on his mind for lasting peace (1.29.18–1.29.23).

Verse 1.29.1¶

श्रीराम उवाच ।
इति मे दोषदावाग्निदग्धे महति चेतसि ।
प्रस्फुरन्ति न भोगाशा मृगतृष्णाः सरःस्विव ॥ १.२९.१ ॥

इति (thus) दोष-दाव-अग्नि-दग्धे (burnt by the forest fire of faults) मे महति चेतसि (in my great mind) भोग-आशाः (hopes for pleasure) न प्रस्फुरन्ति (do not stir), सरःसु मृगतृष्णाः इव (as mirages [do not appear] over lakes).

Translation: Śrī Rāma said: "So, in my mind, burnt by the forest fire of faults, hopes for pleasure no longer stir — just as there are no mirages over real lakes."

Pointers for Reflection:

Rāma's conclusion. Sargas 29–31 close his long speech. Having surveyed everything, he states where he now stands: desire for pleasure has died in him.
No mirage over a lake. A mirage appears only in the desert, where there is no water. Where real water is, no mirage appears. Where true dispassion is, false hopes do not arise.

Verse 1.29.2¶

प्रत्यहं याति कटुतामेषा संसारसंस्थितिः ।
कालपाकवशाल्लोला रसा निम्बलता यथा ॥ १.२९.२ ॥

एषा संसार-संस्थितिः (this state of the world) प्रत्यहं (daily) काल-पाक-वशात् (by the ripening of time) लोल-रसा निम्ब-लता यथा (like a neem creeper, whose fickle taste [turns bitter]) कटुतां याति (grows bitter).

Translation: "Day by day, as time ripens it, this world grows more bitter to me, like the neem vine whose taste turns bitter."

Pointers for Reflection:

Growing bitter. The taste of the world changes as discernment ripens. Compare 1.28.23: everything 'has lost its flavour'.

Verse 1.29.3¶

वृद्धिमायाति दौर्जन्यं सौजन्यं याति तानवम् ।
करञ्जकर्कशे राजन्प्रत्यहं जनचेतसि ॥ १.२९.३ ॥

राजन् (O king), प्रत्यहं (every day) करञ्ज-कर्कशे जन-चेतसि (in people's minds, harsh as the karañja tree) दौर्जन्यं वृद्धिम् आयाति (wickedness grows) सौजन्यं तानवं याति (goodness grows thin).

Translation: "O king, every day, in people's minds grown harsh as the thorny karañja, wickedness grows and goodness thins."

Pointers for Reflection:

Addressed to the king. Rāma speaks to his father of the moral state of the realm — a king's concern.

Verse 1.29.4¶

भज्यते भुवि मर्यादा झटित्येव दिनं प्रति ।
शुष्केव माषशिम्बीका टङ्कारकरवं विना ॥ १.२९.४ ॥

भुवि (on earth) मर्यादा (the bounds of right conduct) दिनं प्रति (day by day) झटिति एव भज्यते (are broken suddenly), शुष्का माष-शिम्बीका इव (like a dry bean-pod) टङ्कार-रवं विना (without a sound).

Translation: "On earth the bounds of right conduct are breaking day by day, suddenly and silently, like a dry bean-pod splitting without a sound."

Pointers for Reflection:

मर्यादा — right limits. Rāma, later called मर्यादापुरुषोत्तम, 'the best of men in keeping right limits', notices their silent breaking.

Verse 1.29.5¶

राज्येभ्यो भोगपूगेभ्यश्चिन्तावद्भ्यो मुनीश्वर ।
निरस्तचिन्ताकलिता वरमेकान्तशीलता ॥ १.२९.५ ॥

मुनि-ईश्वर (lord of sages), चिन्तावद्भ्यः राज्येभ्यः भोग-पूगेभ्यः च (than kingdoms and heaps of pleasures, full of worry) निरस्त-चिन्ता-कलिता एकान्त-शीलता (a solitary life, free of worry) वरम् (is better).

Translation: "Lord of sages, a solitary life free of worry is better than kingdoms and heaps of pleasures, full of anxiety."

Pointers for Reflection:

Better than a kingdom. Rāma, heir to the throne, prefers solitude. Yet he will rule — and Vasiṣṭha will show him how to have the inner solitude within the kingdom.
Gītā 13.10: विविक्तदेशसेवित्वमरतिर्जनसंसदि — resorting to solitary places, no delight in crowds — one of the marks of knowledge.

Verse 1.29.6¶

नानन्दाय ममोद्यानं न सुखाय मम स्त्रियः ।
न हर्षाय ममार्थाशा शाम्यामि मनसा सह ॥ १.२९.६ ॥

मम उद्यानम् आनन्दाय न (my garden is not for my delight) मम स्त्रियः सुखाय न (my women are not for my pleasure) मम अर्थ-आशा हर्षाय न (my hope of wealth is not for my joy); मनसा सह शाम्यामि (I am growing still, together with my mind).

Translation: "My garden gives me no delight, nor do women please me, nor does hope of wealth make me glad. I am growing quiet, along with my mind."

Pointers for Reflection:

मनसा सह शाम्यामि — 'I grow still with the mind'. A beautiful phrase. Not 'I suppress the mind' but 'I and the mind grow still together'. This is the beginning of उपशम, the peace the fifth prakaraṇa is named after (1.1.1).

Verse 1.29.7¶

अनित्यश्चासुखो लोकस्तृष्णा तात दुरुद्वहा ।
चापलोपहतं चेतः कथं यास्यामि निर्वृतिम् ॥ १.२९.७ ॥

तात (dear father), लोकः अनित्यः च असुखः च (the world is impermanent and joyless) तृष्णा दुरुद्वहा (craving is hard to bear); चापल-उपहतं चेतः (my mind struck by restlessness) — कथं निर्वृतिं यास्यामि (how shall I reach peace)?

Translation: "Dear father, the world is impermanent and joyless; craving is hard to bear; my mind is shaken by restlessness. How shall I reach peace?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Gītā 9.33: अनित्यमसुखं लोकमिमं प्राप्य भजस्व माम् — having come into this impermanent, joyless world, turn to me in devotion. Rāma uses the Gītā's very words, अनित्यम् असुखम्. The Lord who speaks them in the Gītā asks the question here.

Verse 1.29.8¶

नाभिनन्दामि मरणं नाभिनन्दामि जीवितम् ।
यथा तिष्ठामि तिष्ठामि तथैव विगतज्वरम् ॥ १.२९.८ ॥

मरणं न अभिनन्दामि (I do not welcome death) जीवितं न अभिनन्दामि (I do not welcome life); यथा तिष्ठामि (as I am) तथा एव विगत-ज्वरं तिष्ठामि (so I remain, free of fever).

Translation: "I do not welcome death, and I do not welcome life. As I am, so I remain, free of fever."

Pointers for Reflection:

A great verse. Neither craving for life nor longing for death — the equanimity of the sage. This answers any worry about Rāma's despair (1.10.46): he is not seeking death, but freedom.
Manusmṛti 6.45 (of the renunciant): नाभिनन्देत मरणं नाभिनन्देत जीवितम् । कालमेव प्रतीक्षेत निर्देशं भृतको यथा ॥ — let him not welcome death, nor welcome life; let him wait for his time, as a servant waits for orders.
विगतज्वर — free of fever. Gītā 3.30 uses the same word: युध्यस्व विगतज्वरः — fight, free of the fever [of anxiety].

Verse 1.29.9¶

किं मे राज्येन किं भोगैः किमर्थेन किमीहितैः ।
अहंकारवशादेतत्स एव गलितो मम ॥ १.२९.९ ॥

मे राज्येन किम् (what is a kingdom to me?) भोगैः किम् (what are pleasures?) अर्थेन किम् (what is wealth?) ईहितैः किम् (what are ambitions?) एतत् अहंकार-वशात् [आसीत्] (all this was from the power of ego); सः एव मम गलितः (and that has fallen away from me).

Translation: "What is a kingdom to me? What are pleasures, wealth or ambitions? All of that came from the ego — and the ego has fallen away from me."

Pointers for Reflection:

The ego has fallen away. Rāma's resolve from Sarga 15 has borne fruit, at least in feeling.
Arjuna's echo — Gītā 1.32: किं नो राज्येन गोविन्द किं भोगैर्जीवितेन वा — what is a kingdom to us, Govinda, what are pleasures, or life itself? Same words, different roots: Arjuna's despair came from attachment to kin; Rāma's dispassion comes from discernment.

Verse 1.29.10¶

जन्मावलिवरत्रायामिन्द्रियग्रन्थयो दृढाः ।
ये बद्धास्तद्विमोक्षार्थं यतन्ते ये त उत्तमाः ॥ १.२९.१० ॥

जन्म-आवलि-वरत्रायाम् (on the strong rope of the series of births) इन्द्रिय-ग्रन्थयः दृढाः (the knots of the senses are firm); ये बद्धाः (those who are bound) [सन्तः] ये तत्-विमोक्ष-अर्थं यतन्ते (and who strive to be free of them) ते तु उत्तमाः (they are the best).

Translation: "The senses are knots pulled tight on the long rope of our births. Among those who are tied by them, the ones who work to get free are the finest."

Pointers for Reflection:

Striving is what counts. Not being free already, but striving for freedom, makes one 'the best'. Compare 1.2.2: the one who knows 'I am bound' is qualified for this teaching.

Verse 1.29.11¶

मथितं मानिनीलोकैर्मनो मकरकेतुना ।
कोमलं खुरनिष्पेषैः कमलं करिणा यथा ॥ १.२९.११ ॥

मकर-केतुना (by the god of love) मानिनी-लोकैः (through proud women) मनः मथितम् (the mind is churned), कोमलं कमलं करिणा खुर-निष्पेषैः यथा (as a tender lotus by an elephant's trampling feet).

Translation: "The god of love, through proud and lovely women, has churned the mind as an elephant tramples a tender lotus."

Pointers for Reflection:

Honesty. Rāma does not claim to be beyond desire. He admits its power over the mind, and asks for help.

Verse 1.29.12¶

अद्य चेत्स्वच्छया बुद्ध्या मुनीन्द्र न चिकित्स्यते ।
भूयश्चित्तचिकित्सायास्तत्किलावसरः कुतः ॥ १.२९.१२ ॥

मुनि-इन्द्र (chief of sages), चेत् (if) अद्य (today) स्वच्छया बुद्ध्या (with a clear mind) [इदं] न चिकित्स्यते (this is not treated), तत् (then) भूयः (again) चित्त-चिकित्सायाः अवसरः कुतः किल (where will there be another chance to heal the mind)?

Translation: "Chief of sages, if this is not treated today, while my mind is clear, when will there ever be another chance to heal the mind?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Today. The urgency of the seeker. Now, while the mind is clear and young, is the time.
चित्तचिकित्सा — healing the mind. The medical image returns (1.16.25): the teaching is medicine.

Verse 1.29.13¶

विषं विषयवैषम्यं न विषं विषमुच्यते ।
जन्मान्तरघ्ना विषया एकदेहहरं विषम् ॥ १.२९.१३ ॥

विषय-वैषम्यं विषम् (the harm of sense-objects is poison); विषं विषम् न उच्यते (poison is not called poison); विषयाः जन्म-अन्तर-घ्नाः (sense-objects kill through future births) विषम् एक-देह-हरम् (poison takes only one body).

Translation: "The real poison is the harm of sense-objects; what we call poison is not really poison. Poison takes only one body; sense-objects destroy us through birth after birth."

Pointers for Reflection:

A famous verse, often quoted. Ordinary poison kills once; attachment to sense-objects keeps one bound through many lives.
विषं विषयः — a pun. The two words sound alike: viṣa (poison) and viṣaya (sense-object).

Verse 1.29.14¶

न सुखानि न दुःखानि न मित्राणि न बान्धवाः ।
न जीवितं न मरणं बन्धाय ज्ञस्य चेतसः ॥ १.२९.१४ ॥

ज्ञस्य चेतसः (for the mind of the knower) न सुखानि न दुःखानि (neither pleasures nor pains) न मित्राणि न बान्धवाः (neither friends nor relatives) न जीवितं न मरणं (neither life nor death) बन्धाय [भवन्ति] (are a bondage).

Translation: "For a knower's mind, nothing becomes a fetter: not pleasure or pain, not friend or kin, not living or dying."

Pointers for Reflection:

ज्ञ — the knower (glossary, 1.1.2). Rāma now describes the free person exactly: nothing binds them, though they have all the same things as others. Freedom is not in removing things but in their no longer binding.
Gītā 4.22: यदृच्छालाभसन्तुष्टो द्वन्द्वातीतो विमत्सरः । समः सिद्धावसिद्धौ च कृत्वापि न निबध्यते ॥ — content with what comes, beyond the pairs of opposites, free of envy, even in success and failure — though acting, one is not bound.

Verse 1.29.15¶

तद्भवामि यथा ब्रह्मन्पूर्वापरविदां वर ।
वीतशोकभयायासो ज्ञस्तथोपदिशाशु मे ॥ १.२९.१५ ॥

ब्रह्मन् पूर्व-अपर-विदां वर (O sage, best of those who know past and future), यथा (so that) तत् (that) वीत-शोक-भय-आयासः ज्ञः भवामि (I may become a knower free of sorrow, fear and weariness), तथा मे आशु उपदिश (so teach me quickly).

Translation: "You who see furthest into what was and what will be, O sage — show me, and soon, how I too may become a knower, rid of grief, fear and strain."

Pointers for Reflection:

The request. Rāma asks directly to become a ज्ञ. Compare 1.15.21 (मां समनुशाधि) and Arjuna's शाधि मां (Gītā 2.7).
वीतशोकभयायास — free of sorrow, fear and weariness. Compare Gītā 2.56, वीतरागभयक्रोधः.

Verse 1.29.16¶

वासनाजालवलिता दुःखकण्टकसंकुला ।
निपातोत्पातबहुला भीमरूपाऽज्ञताटवी ॥ १.२९.१६ ॥

अज्ञता-अटवी (the forest of ignorance) वासना-जाल-वलिता (wrapped in the net of latent tendencies) दुःख-कण्टक-संकुला (full of thorns of sorrow) निपात-उत्पात-बहुला (full of falls and rises) भीम-रूपा (is fearsome in form).

Translation: "Ignorance is a frightening jungle, tangled in the net of latent tendencies, thorny with sorrow, full of sudden falls and sudden upheavals."

Pointers for Reflection:

अज्ञता — ignorance. Rāma names the root at last: not the world, but ignorance. This is the Advaitic diagnosis.
वासना (glossary, 1.3.8): the net that holds the forest together.

Verse 1.29.17¶

क्रकचाग्रविनिष्पेषं सोढुं शक्नोम्यहं मुने ।
संसारव्यवहारोत्थं नाशाविषयवैशसम् ॥ १.२९.१७ ॥

मुने (O sage), अहं (I) क्रकच-अग्र-विनिष्पेषं सोढुं शक्नोमि (can bear being ground by the teeth of a saw); [न तु] संसार-व्यवहार-उत्थं नाशा-विषय-वैशसम् (but not the torment of losing objects, arising from worldly dealings).

Translation: "O sage, I could bear being cut by the teeth of a saw — but not the torment of losing what one loves, which comes from worldly life."

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The second line is elliptical; the sense requires 'but not' (Rāma can bear physical pain but not the mental pain of loss).
Mental pain is worse. A profound observation: the suffering of the mind is harder to bear than that of the body.

Verse 1.29.18¶

इदं नास्तीदमस्तीति व्यवहाराञ्जनभ्रमः ।
धुनोतीदं चलं चेतो रजोराशिमिवानिलः ॥ १.२९.१८ ॥

'इदं न अस्ति इदम् अस्ति' इति ('this is not, this is') व्यवहार-अञ्जन-भ्रमः (the delusion that is the eye-paint of worldly dealings) इदं चलं चेतः (this restless mind) अनिलः रजः-राशिम् इव (as the wind a heap of dust) धुनोति (shakes).

Translation: "The muddle of everyday life — 'this exists, that does not' — tosses this unsteady mind about as a gust scatters a pile of dust."

Pointers for Reflection:

'This is, this is not.' The mind's constant judgment of existence and non-existence. Freedom lies beyond both (Gītā 2.16, नासतो विद्यते भावो नाभावो विद्यते सतः).

Verse 1.29.19¶

तृष्णातन्तुलवप्रोतं जीवसंचयमौक्तिकम् ।
चिदच्छाङ्गतया नित्यं विकसच्चित्तनायकम् ॥ १.२९.१९ ॥

तृष्णा-तन्तु-लव-प्रोतं (strung on fine threads of craving) जीव-सञ्चय-मौक्तिकम् (with the mass of living beings as pearls) चित्-अच्छ-अङ्गतया (by being made of pure consciousness) नित्यं विकसत्-चित्त-नायकम् (with the ever-shining mind as its central gem) …

Translation: "This necklace — its pearls the mass of living beings, strung on fine threads of craving, its central jewel the mind, always shining because it is made of pure consciousness …"

Pointers for Reflection:

The necklace of saṃsāra (1.15.16, 1.17.34). The pearls are beings; the thread is craving; the central gem is the mind, which shines only by borrowed consciousness. The sentence continues.

Verse 1.29.20¶

संसारहारमरतिः कालव्यालविभूषणम् ।
त्रोटयाम्यहमक्रूरं वागुरामिव केसरी ॥ १.२९.२० ॥

अरतिः [अहम्] (I, who find no delight in it) काल-व्याल-विभूषणं (adorned with the snake of Time) संसार-हारम् (this necklace of saṃsāra) केसरी वागुराम् इव (as a lion [breaks] a net) अक्रूरं त्रोटयामि (break without cruelty).

Translation: "… this necklace of saṃsāra, adorned with the serpent of Time, I, who no longer delight in it, will break — gently, as a lion breaks out of a net."

Pointers for Reflection:

अक्रूरम् — without cruelty. A striking word. Rāma will break the bonds of saṃsāra, but without violence or hatred — with the calm strength of a lion. Dispassion, not aversion.

Verse 1.29.21¶

नीहारं हृदयाटव्यां मनस्तिमिरमाशु मे ।
केन विज्ञानदीपेन भिन्धि तत्त्वविदां वर ॥ १.२९.२१ ॥

तत्त्वविदां वर (best of the knowers of truth), मे हृदय-अटव्यां (in the forest of my heart) नीहारं मनः-तिमिरम् (the fog, the darkness of the mind) केन विज्ञान-दीपेन (with what lamp of knowledge) आशु भिन्धि (pierce quickly).

Translation: "You who stand highest among the knowers of truth — what lamp of understanding will you use to cut, and soon, through the mist and murk of mind that fills the forest of my heart?"

Pointers for Reflection:

Reading note. The online text prints तत्त्वविदांवर; corrected here to तत्त्वविदां वर (word spacing).
Gītā 10.11: तेषामेवानुकम्पार्थमहमज्ञानजं तमः । नाशयाम्यात्मभावस्थो ज्ञानदीपेन भास्वता ॥ — out of compassion for them, dwelling in their hearts, I destroy the darkness born of ignorance with the shining lamp of knowledge. Rāma asks for the very lamp that Kṛṣṇa promises.

Verse 1.29.22¶

विद्यन्त एवेह न ते महात्मन् दुराधयो न क्षयमाप्नुवन्ति ।
ये सङ्गमेनोत्तममानसानां निशातमांसीव निशाकरेण ॥ १.२९.२२ ॥

महात्मन् (great soul), इह (here) ते दुराधयः न एव विद्यन्ते (there are no such grievous ills) ये (which) उत्तम-मानसानां सङ्गमेन (by meeting with those of noble mind) निशा-तमांसि निशाकरेण इव (as the darkness of night by the moon) क्षयं न आप्नुवन्ति (do not perish).

Translation: "Great soul, there is no grievous ill here that does not vanish in the company of noble minds, as the darkness of night vanishes before the moon."

Pointers for Reflection:

सत्सङ्ग — the company of the wise. Rāma's faith in the teacher. Compare 1.26.19, where he lamented that such company was far away. Now he is in it.
Reading note. The verse is a double negative in the Sanskrit: 'there are no ills that do not perish'. The translation makes it positive.

Verse 1.29.23¶

आयुर्वायुविघट्टिताभ्रपटलीलम्बाम्बुवद्भङ्गुरं भोगा मेघवितानमध्यविलसत्सौदामिनीचञ्चलाः ।
लोलायौवनलालनाजलरयश्चेत्याकलय्य द्रुतं मुद्रैवाद्य दृढार्पिता ननु मया चित्ते चिरं शान्तये ॥ १.२९.२३ ॥

आयुः (life) वायु-विघट्टित-अभ्र-पटली-लम्ब-अम्बु-वत् भङ्गुरम् (fragile as a drop hanging from a cloud torn by the wind) भोगाः (pleasures) मेघ-वितान-मध्य-विलसत्-सौदामिनी-चञ्चलाः (fickle as lightning flashing within a canopy of cloud) लोल-यौवन-लालना-जल-रयः च (and the cherishing of fickle youth is a rush of water) इति (thus) द्रुतम् आकलय्य (having quickly understood) अद्य मया (today, by me) चिरं शान्तये (for lasting peace) चित्ते दृढा मुद्रा एव अर्पिता ननु (a firm seal has been set on the mind).

Translation: Life is as fragile as a drop hanging from a wind-torn cloud; pleasures are as fickle as lightning flashing in a canopy of cloud; the cherishing of youth is a rushing stream. Seeing this clearly, I have today set a firm seal on my mind, for lasting peace.

Pointers for Reflection:

A closing verse in a longer metre (śārdūlavikrīḍita).
A seal on the mind (मुद्रा). Rāma's resolve is firm. The image of the drop on the leaf (1.14.1) returns as a drop on a cloud.
शान्ति — peace. The goal is named: lasting peace.