प्राप्यं संप्राप्यते येन भूयो येन न शोच्यते । पराया निर्वृतेः स्थानं यत्तज्जीवितमुच्यते ॥ १० ॥
prāpyaṁ saṁprāpyatē yēna bhūyō yēna na śōcyatē | parāyā nirvṛtēḥ sthānaṁ yattajjīvitamucyatē || 10 ||
Translation
That alone is called life by which what is to be reached is reached, after which one grieves no more, and which is the abode of the highest peace.
Word by word
- prāpyaṁ
- what is to be reached
- saṁprāpyatē
- is reached
- yēna
- by which (repeated: after which)
- bhūyō
- (bhūyaḥ) more
- na
- no
- śōcyatē
- one grieves
- parāyā
- of the highest
- nirvṛtēḥ
- peace
- sthānaṁ
- the abode
- yat
- which is
- taj
- (tat) that
- jīvitam
- life
- ucyatē
- is called
Meaning
Having said what life is not, Rāma says what it is. True life (jīvita) is defined by its fruit: by it "what is to be reached is reached" (prāpya), the commentary says, liberation, the highest aim of a human being; after it there is no more grief; and it is the "place of the highest peace" (parā nirvṛti), which the commentary calls the happiness of liberation while living. This is the measure the reader is given for a life: not its length, nor its comforts, but whether it reaches that from which there is no falling back.