अवान्तरनिपाताय शून्ये वा भ्रमणाय च । तृणं चण्डानिलेनेव दूरे नीतोऽस्मि चेतसा ॥ १७ ॥
avāntaranipātāya śūnyē vā bhramaṇāya ca | tṛṇaṁ caṇḍānilēnēva dūrē nītō’smi cētasā || 17 ||
Translation
By the mind I am carried far off, to fall midway or to wander in the void, as a straw by a fierce wind.
Word by word
- avāntara
- midway
- nipātāya
- to fall
- śūnyē
- in the void
- vā
- or
- bhramaṇāya
- to wander
- ca
- and
- tṛṇaṁ
- a straw
- caṇḍa
- by a fierce
- anilēna
- wind
- iva
- as
- dūrē
- far off
- nītō
- (nītaḥ) carried
- asmi
- I am
- cētasā
- by the mind
Meaning
A gale lifts a straw high, drops it anywhere, or blows it aimlessly about. The commentary reads the two fates carefully: "to fall midway" (avāntara-nipāta), as one who has reached heaven by good deeds falls from it before its time; "to wander in the void", in births among insects and beasts, empty of the least happiness, when good deeds are lacking. Either way the mind, not the person, decides the course. The reader is asked who is steering their life: their own clear will, or the wind of the mind.