क्रोडीकृतदृढग्रन्थितृष्णासूत्रे स्थितात्मना । विहगो जालकेनेव ब्रह्मन् बद्धोऽस्मि चेतसा ॥ १३ ॥
krōḍīkṛtadṛḍhagranthitṛṣṇāsūtrē sthitātmanā | vihagō jālakēnēva brahman baddhō’smi cētasā || 13 ||
Translation
By the mind, which dwells on the thread of craving with its firm knots drawn tight, I am bound, brahmin, as a bird by a net.
Word by word
- krōḍīkṛta
- drawn tight
- dṛḍha
- firm
- granthi
- with its knots
- tṛṣṇā
- of craving
- sūtrē
- on the thread
- sthita
- which dwells
- ātmanā
- by the mind
- vihagō
- (vihagaḥ) a bird
- jālakēna
- by a net
- iva
- as
- brahman
- brahmin
- baddhō
- (baddhaḥ) bound
- asmi
- I am
- cētasā
- by the mind
Meaning
Craving is a thread, and the thread has knots pulled tight (krodīkṛta-dṛḍha-granthi). The commentary names them: "I am this" and "this is mine", the confusion of the Self with the body and of the body's world with oneself. A bird lured by grain is caught in the fowler's net; Rāma is caught by his own mind, which lives on that thread. The verse locates bondage precisely: not in the world, but in the knots of "I" and "mine" tied in the thread of craving. The reader is shown where to work: on the knots.