अचेतना इव जनाः पवनैः प्राणनामभिः । ध्वनन्तः संस्थिता व्यर्थं यथा कीचकवेणवः ॥ २० ॥
acētanā iva janāḥ pavanaiḥ prāṇanāmabhiḥ | dhvanantaḥ saṁsthitā vyarthaṁ yathā kīcakavēṇavaḥ || 20 ||
Translation
People are like things without awareness, sounding for nothing, moved by the winds called the life-breaths, like hollow bamboos.
Word by word
- acētanā
- (acetanāḥ) things without awareness
- iva
- like
- janāḥ
- people
- pavanaiḥ
- by the winds
- prāṇa
- the life-breaths
- nāmabhiḥ
- called
- dhvanantaḥ
- sounding
- saṁsthitā
- (saṁsthitāḥ) are
- vyarthaṁ
- for nothing
- yathā
- like
- kīcaka
- hollow
- vēṇavaḥ
- bamboos
Meaning
Kīcaka bamboos are hollow; the wind whistles through them. Rāma's image is unsparing: people breathe, speak and make sounds as the wind moves through them, without asking what moves them or why. Another commentary notes that the bamboo is not literally unaware, nor are people; the point is that they act as if they were.