क्षणमालोकविमला सान्धकारलवा क्षणम् । व्योमवीथ्युपमा तृष्णा नीहारगहना क्षणम् ॥ ४० ॥
kṣaṇamālōkavimalā sāndhakāralavā kṣaṇam | vyōmavīthyupamā tṛṣṇā nīhāragahanā kṣaṇam || 40 ||
Translation
For a moment clear with light, for a moment touched with darkness, for a moment thick with mist: craving is like a path across the sky.
Word by word
- kṣaṇam
- for a moment (thrice)
- ālōka
- with light
- vimalā
- clear
- sa
- touched with
- andhakāra
- darkness
- lavā
- a little
- vyōma
- across the sky
- vīthī
- a path
- upamā
- like
- tṛṣṇā
- craving
- nīhāra
- with mist
- gahanā
- thick
Meaning
The sky changes all day: clear, then shadowed by cloud, then lost in mist. Craving, the commentary says, is the same: when a little light of discrimination comes, it seems clear and harmless; without discrimination it is soiled by ignorance; and at times it is wrapped in the dense fog of delusion. The verse is honest about how craving looks from inside: sometimes quite reasonable, sometimes dark, sometimes all-confusing. It is the same sky throughout. The reader is asked not to judge a want by how clear it looks today.