अविश्रान्तमनाः शून्यमायुराततमीहते । दुःखायैव विमूढोऽन्तर्गर्भमश्वतरी यथा ॥ ८ ॥
aviśrāntamanāḥ śūnyamāyurātatamīhatē | duḥkhāyaiva vimūḍhō’ntargarbhamaśvatarī yathā || 8 ||
Translation
The fool whose mind finds no rest desires a long and empty life only for his own sorrow, as a she-mule bears the embryo within her.
Word by word
- aviśrānta
- finds no rest
- manāḥ
- whose mind
- śūnyam
- empty
- āyur
- (āyuḥ) life
- ātatam
- long
- īhatē
- desires
- duḥkhāya
- for sorrow
- ēva
- only
- vimūḍhō
- (vimūḍhaḥ) the fool
- antar
- (antaḥ) within
- garbham
- the embryo
- aśvatarī
- a she-mule
- yathā
- as
Meaning
The commentary explains the image from common belief: a she-mule (aśvatarī) was said to die in giving birth, the young cut from her body. So she carries within her her own death. The fool whose mind never rests wants a long life, but an empty one (śūnya), filled with nothing that matters; and the more of it he gets, the more sorrow he carries. The wish for long life is the most natural of all wishes. Rāma does not condemn it; he asks what the years are for. A longer empty life is only a longer sorrow.