इतश्चेतश्च सुव्यग्रं व्यर्थमेवाऽभिधावति । दूराद् दूरतरं दीनं ग्रामे कौलेयको यथा ॥ २ ॥
itaścētaśca suvyagraṁ vyarthamēvā’bhidhāvati | dūrād dūrataraṁ dīnaṁ grāmē kaulēyakō yathā || 2 ||
Translation
Anxious, it runs here and there, all in vain, farther and farther, wretched, like a dog in a village.
Word by word
- itaś
- (itaḥ) here
- cētaś
- (ca itaḥ) and there
- ca
- and
- suvyagraṁ
- anxious
- vyartham
- in vain
- ēva
- all
- abhidhāvati
- it runs
- dūrād
- (dūrāt) farther
- dūrataraṁ
- and farther
- dīnaṁ
- wretched
- grāmē
- in a village
- kaulēyakō
- (kauleyakaḥ) a dog
- yathā
- like
Meaning
A village dog runs from house to house, from one heap to the next, looking for something to fill its belly, and never finds enough. The commentary: the mind, without weighing what is fitting and what is not, wanders farther and farther and, not finding the means of its fulfilment, stays wretched (dīna). The image is humbling and exact. Much of what the mind does in a day is this: running after the next thing, the next message, the next small want, and arriving nowhere. The reader may notice the dog in themselves without contempt, and begin to call it home.