श्रीराम उवाच । आर्द्रान्त्रतन्त्रीगहनो विकारी परिपातवान् । देहः स्फुरति संसारे सोऽपि दुःखाय केवलम् ॥ १ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | ārdrāntratantrīgahanō vikārī paripātavān | dēhaḥ sphurati saṁsārē sō’pi duḥkhāya kēvalam || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Rāma said: Tangled with moist entrails and sinews, changing, bound to fall, the body throbs in the world; and it too is only for sorrow.
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- rāma
- Rāma
- uvāca
- said
- ārdra
- moist
- antra
- with entrails
- tantrī
- and sinews
- gahanō
- (gahanaḥ) tangled
- vikārī
- changing
- paripātavān
- bound to fall
- dēhaḥ
- the body
- sphurati
- throbs
- saṁsārē
- in the world
- sō
- (saḥ) it
- api
- too
- duḥkhāya
- for sorrow
- kēvalam
- only
Meaning
Craving, one might say, is the cause of sorrow; but surely the body is the place of happiness, for "a living man sees a hundred blessings", and everyone loves their body above all. The commentary sets out this objection, and Rāma answers it by looking at the body as it is. Inside it is a tangle of wet entrails and nerves; it is vikārin, always changing; it is paripātavat, bound to fall. It "throbs" (sphurati) in the world, alive for a while, and it too is "only for sorrow". The reader is not asked to hate the body, but to look honestly at what they most cherish, and see that it cannot be the home of lasting joy.