असतैव वयं कष्टं विकृष्टा मूढबुद्धयः । मृगतृष्णाम्भसा दूरे वने मुग्धमृगा इव ॥ ११ ॥
asataiva vayaṁ kaṣṭaṁ vikṛṣṭā mūḍhabuddhayaḥ | mṛgatṛṣṇāmbhasā dūrē vanē mugdhamṛgā iva || 11 ||
Translation
Fools that we are, we have been dragged far, painfully, by what is unreal, like simple deer in a forest drawn on by the water of a mirage.
Word by word
- asatā
- by what is unreal
- ēva
- indeed
- vayaṁ
- we
- kaṣṭaṁ
- painfully
- vikṛṣṭā
- (vikṛṣṭāḥ) dragged
- mūḍha
- foolish
- buddhayaḥ
- minded
- mṛgatṛṣṇā
- of a mirage
- ambhasā
- by the water
- dūrē
- far
- vanē
- in a forest
- mugdha
- simple
- mṛgā
- (mṛgāḥ) deer
- iva
- like
Meaning
The mirage is the classic image of Vedānta. The deer sees water in the desert heat and runs towards it; the water recedes; it runs further, until it falls exhausted. The water was never there, yet the running and the thirst were real. So with the pleasures we chase. The image does not mock the deer: it is "simple" (mugdha), innocent. Our pursuit of happiness in things is not wicked, only mistaken.