पदं करोत्यलङ्घ्येऽपि तृप्ताऽपि फलमीहते । चिरं तिष्ठति नैकत्र तृष्णा चपलमर्कटी ॥ २९ ॥
padaṁ karōtyalaṅghyē’pi tṛptā’pi phalamīhatē | ciraṁ tiṣṭhati naikatra tṛṣṇā capalamarkaṭī || 29 ||
Translation
She sets foot even where none can go; even satisfied, she wants more fruit; she does not stay long in one place: craving, a restless she-monkey.
Word by word
- padaṁ
- foot
- karōti
- she sets
- alaṅghyē
- where none can go
- api
- even
- tṛptā
- satisfied
- phalam
- more fruit
- īhatē
- she wants
- ciraṁ
- long
- tiṣṭhati
- does stay
- na
- not
- ēkatra
- in one place
- tṛṣṇā
- craving
- capala
- a restless
- markaṭī
- she-monkey
Meaning
A monkey leaps where no one can climb, grabs one fruit and reaches for the next before it is eaten, never sits still. Craving: it reaches for the unreachable; "even when satisfied, it wants fruit" (tṛptāpi phalam īhate); it moves on at once. The middle phrase is the heart of the verse. Satisfaction does not end craving; it only feeds it. The reader who has watched a fulfilled wish turn at once into a new one has watched the monkey.