वयं परिमिताकारपरिनिष्ठितनिश्चयाः । संसाराभ्रतडित्पुञ्जे मुने नाऽऽयुषि निर्वृताः ॥ ४ ॥
vayaṁ parimitākārapariniṣṭhitaniścayāḥ | saṁsārābhrataḍitpuñjē munē nā’’yuṣi nirvṛtāḥ || 4 ||
Translation
We, O sage, whose conviction is fixed on limited forms, find no peace in life, which is a mass of lightning in the cloud of the world.
Word by word
- vayaṁ
- we
- parimita
- on limited
- ākāra
- forms
- pariniṣṭhita
- fixed
- niścayāḥ
- whose conviction is
- saṁsāra
- of the world
- abhra
- in the cloud
- taḍit
- of lightning
- puñjē
- a mass
- munē
- O sage
- na
- no
- āyuṣi
- in life
- nirvṛtāḥ
- find peace
Meaning
Rāma counts himself among the first kind. "We" have a conviction (niścaya) "fixed on limited forms" (parimitākāra): the commentary explains, we have decided that the body and what goes with it are the Self. Once that is decided, life can only be anxious, for the body is a flash of lightning in a passing cloud. The honesty of the verse matters. Rāma does not speak as one who has arrived; he names his own error. The reader may recognise the same conviction in themselves, held not as a theory but in every fear about the body's age, health and end.