श्रीराम उवाच । लब्ध्वाऽपि तरलाकारे कार्यभारतरङ्गिणि । संसारसागरे जन्म बाल्यं दुःखाय केवलम् ॥ १ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | labdhvā’pi taralākārē kāryabhārataraṅgiṇi | saṁsārasāgarē janma bālyaṁ duḥkhāya kēvalam || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Rāma said: Even when birth is won in the ocean of the world, restless in form and rolling with the waves of its burdens of work, childhood is only for sorrow.
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- rāma
- Rāma
- uvāca
- said
- labdhvā
- is won
- api
- even when
- tarala
- restless
- ākārē
- in form
- kārya
- of work
- bhāra
- of its burdens
- taraṅgiṇi
- rolling with the waves
- saṁsāra
- of the world
- sāgarē
- in the ocean
- janma
- birth
- bālyaṁ
- childhood
- duḥkhāya
- for sorrow
- kēvalam
- only
Meaning
Having seen through the body, Rāma now follows it through the ages of life: childhood here, youth in 1.20, old age in 1.21. He begins with the age everyone remembers as the happiest. The commentary draws out the word "even" (api): a human birth is rare, won by the ripening of merit; and even when it is won, its first stage is full of suffering. The reader is asked to look past the golden memory, which is made later, to what childhood was like from inside: helpless, frightened, wanting, and often in tears.