श्रीराम उवाच । दोषैर्जर्जरतां याति सत्कार्यादार्यसेवनात् । वातान्तःपिच्छलववच्चेतश्चलति चञ्चलम् ॥ १ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | dōṣairjarjaratāṁ yāti satkāryādāryasēvanāt | vātāntaḥpicchalavavaccētaścalati cañcalam || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Rāma said: Worn down by its faults, the mind falls away from good deeds and from the service of the noble; restless, it flutters like a bit of feather in the wind.
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- rāma
- Rāma
- uvāca
- said
- dōṣair
- (doṣaiḥ) by its faults
- jarjaratāṁ
- worn down
- yāti
- it becomes
- sat
- good
- kāryād
- (kāryāt) from deeds
- ārya
- of the noble
- sēvanāt
- from the service
- vāta
- the wind
- antaḥ
- in
- piccha
- of feather
- lavavac
- (lavavat) like a bit
- cētaś
- (cetaḥ) the mind
- calati
- flutters
- cañcalam
- restless
Meaning
After the ego comes the mind, its instrument. The commentary opens with a saying: "the service of the great is the door to freedom". The mind, worn down (jarjara) by its faults, desire and the rest, becomes unfit for good deeds and for keeping company with the wise; it slackens, as the commentary says, in the pursuit of the highest aim. And it is cañcala, restless, like the tip of a peacock's feather caught in a current of air. Most of the sarga will describe this restlessness from every side. The reader is asked at the outset to watch their own mind for a moment, as one watches a feather, and see how little it rests.