शाम्यतीदं कथं दुःखमिति तप्तोऽस्मि चिन्तया । जरद्द्रुम इवोग्रेण कोटरस्थेन वह्निना ॥ २१ ॥
śāmyatīdaṁ kathaṁ duḥkhamiti taptō’smi cintayā | jaraddruma ivōgrēṇa kōṭarasthēna vahninā || 21 ||
Translation
"How can this sorrow be ended?" With this thought I burn, as an old tree burns from the fierce fire within its hollow.
Word by word
- śāmyati
- can be ended
- idaṁ
- this
- kathaṁ
- how
- duḥkham
- sorrow
- iti
- thus
- taptō
- (taptaḥ) burn
- asmi
- I
- cintayā
- with this thought
- jarat
- old
- druma
- (drumaḥ) a tree
- iva
- as
- ugrēṇa
- by the fierce
- kōṭarasthēna
- within its hollow
- vahninā
- fire
Meaning
A fire in the hollow of a tree is invisible from outside until the tree falls. Rāma's suffering is of that kind: inward, unseen by the court, which saw only his thinness (sarga 10). The fire is not despair but the burning question itself, which will not let him rest until it is answered.