त्वक्सुधालेपमसृणं यन्त्रसञ्चारचञ्चलम् । मनःसदाखुनोत्खातं नेष्टं देहगृहं मम ॥ ३२ ॥
tvaksudhālēpamasṛṇaṁ yantrasañcāracañcalam | manaḥsadākhunōtkhātaṁ nēṣṭaṁ dēhagṛhaṁ mama || 32 ||
Translation
Smooth with the plaster of the skin, shaking with the movement of its machinery, dug through always by the rat of the mind: the house of the body is not wanted by me.
Word by word
- tvak
- of the skin
- sudhā
- of the plaster
- lēpa
- with the coat
- masṛṇaṁ
- smooth
- yantra
- of its machinery
- sañcāra
- with the movement
- cañcalam
- shaking
- manaḥ
- of the mind
- sadā
- always
- ākhunā
- by the rat
- utkhātaṁ
- dug through
- na
- not
- iṣṭaṁ
- wanted
- dēha
- of the body
- gṛhaṁ
- the house
- mama
- by me
Meaning
The skin is the smooth lime plaster on the walls; the joints are the machinery whose movements make the whole house shake; and the mind is a rat that lives inside it and is always burrowing, so that the walls are hollowed and the floor full of rubbish, as the commentary says. The smooth surface hides the burrowing within. The reader may know this from experience: outwardly composed, inwardly gnawed.