चेतः पतति कार्येषु विहगः स्वामिषेष्विव । क्षणेन विरतिं याति बालः क्रीडनकादिव ॥ २२ ॥
cētaḥ patati kāryēṣu vihagaḥ svāmiṣēṣviva | kṣaṇēna viratiṁ yāti bālaḥ krīḍanakādiva || 22 ||
Translation
The mind falls on things to be done as a bird on meat, and in a moment loses interest, as a child with a toy.
Word by word
- cētaḥ
- the mind
- patati
- falls
- kāryēṣu
- on things to be done
- vihagaḥ
- a bird
- sva
- its
- āmiṣēṣu
- on meat
- iva
- as
- kṣaṇēna
- in a moment
- viratiṁ
- interest
- yāti
- loses
- bālaḥ
- a child
- krīḍanakād
- (krīḍanakāt) with a toy
Meaning
Two quick images of the same fickleness. A kite or crow drops on a piece of meat at once, without asking whether it is good for it; the mind drops so on whatever the senses show it. And a child seizes a new toy, plays a moment, and throws it aside for the next. The commentary joins them: the mind falls on objects without weighing good and harm, and a moment later turns away. The reader may watch a single hour of their mind and count how many toys it picked up and dropped.