मूर्धजाच्छादनच्छन्नकर्णश्रीचन्द्रशालिकम् । आदीर्घाङ्गुलिनिर्व्यूहं नेष्टं देहगृहं मम ॥ २७ ॥
mūrdhajācchādanacchannakarṇaśrīcandraśālikam | ādīrghāṅgulinirvyūhaṁ nēṣṭaṁ dēhagṛhaṁ mama || 27 ||
Translation
Its ears the fair upper rooms, covered by the thatch of the hair, its carved woodwork the long fingers: the house of the body is not wanted by me.
Word by word
- mūrdhaja
- of the hair
- ācchādana
- by the thatch
- channa
- covered
- karṇa
- its ears
- śrī
- fair
- candraśālikam
- the upper rooms
- ādīrgha
- the long
- aṅguli
- fingers
- nirvyūhaṁ
- its carved woodwork
- na
- not
- iṣṭaṁ
- wanted
- dēha
- of the body
- gṛhaṁ
- the house
- mama
- by me
Meaning
The hair is the thatch of the roof; under it the ears are the candraśālā, the pleasant upper rooms; the long fingers are the carved wooden ornaments of the eaves. The commentary reads the earrings as the rooms' decoration. The body is a pretty house, carefully made, and Rāma admires its craft even as he declines to live in it. The reader is shown a way of seeing the body that is neither disgust nor attachment: appreciation without ownership.