न प्राप्नोति क्वचित्किञ्चित् प्राप्तैरपि महाधनैः । नाऽन्तः संपूर्णतामेति करण्डक इवाऽम्बुभिः ॥ ३ ॥
na prāpnōti kvacitkiñcit prāptairapi mahādhanaiḥ | nā’ntaḥ saṁpūrṇatāmēti karaṇḍaka ivā’mbubhiḥ || 3 ||
Translation
It finds nothing anywhere, even when great riches are gained; it never becomes full within, as a basket is never filled with water.
Word by word
- na
- nothing
- prāpnōti
- it finds
- kvacit
- anywhere
- kiñcit
- at all
- prāptair
- (prāptaiḥ) when gained
- api
- even
- mahā
- great
- dhanaiḥ
- riches
- antaḥ
- within
- saṁpūrṇatām
- full
- ēti
- becomes
- karaṇḍaka
- (karaṇḍakaḥ) a basket
- iva
- as
- ambubhiḥ
- with water
Meaning
A basket woven of bamboo or cane can be dipped in water a thousand times and come up empty: the water runs out through the weave. So the mind. Great riches may come, the commentary says, by good fortune, and it is as unsatisfied as if it had gained nothing. The fault is not in what is poured in but in the vessel. This is one of the most practical verses in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha: the reader who keeps thinking "when I have this, I will be content" is pouring water into a basket. Contentment has to be found in the vessel, not in the water.