शून्या मन्मुखवृत्तीस्ताः शुष्करोदननीरसाः । विवेक एव हृत्संस्थो ममैकान्तेषु पश्यति ॥ २३ ॥
śūnyā manmukhavṛttīstāḥ śuṣkarōdananīrasāḥ | vivēka ēva hṛtsaṁsthō mamaikāntēṣu paśyati || 23 ||
Translation
Those empty expressions on my face, dry and joyless with tearless weeping: only discrimination, dwelling in my heart, sees them when I am alone.
Word by word
- śūnyā
- (śūnyāḥ) empty
- mat
- my
- mukha
- face
- vṛttīs
- (vṛttīḥ) expressions
- tāḥ
- those
- śuṣka
- dry
- rōdana
- with weeping
- nīrasāḥ
- joyless
- vivēka
- (vivekaḥ) discrimination
- ēva
- only
- hṛt
- in the heart
- saṁsthō
- (saṁsthaḥ) dwelling
- mama
- my
- ēkāntēṣu
- when I am alone
- paśyati
- sees
Meaning
No one else sees his real state. Discrimination is pictured as a silent witness within, the only companion of his solitude. The reader may know this too: the moments alone when the face drops its mask.