यत्र दोलाकृति मनः परिस्फुरति वृत्तिषु । त्रैलोक्याभव्यमपि तत्कथं भवति तुष्टये ॥ १२ ॥
yatra dōlākṛti manaḥ parisphurati vṛttiṣu | trailōkyābhavyamapi tatkathaṁ bhavati tuṣṭayē || 12 ||
Translation
Where the mind swings like a cradle among its moods, how can that, which is ill-omened for all three worlds, bring contentment?
Word by word
- yatra
- where
- dōlā
- a cradle
- ākṛti
- like
- manaḥ
- the mind
- parisphurati
- swings
- vṛttiṣu
- among its moods
- trailōkya
- for all three worlds
- abhavyam
- ill-omened
- api
- even
- tat
- that
- kathaṁ
- how
- bhavati
- can
- tuṣṭayē
- bring contentment
Meaning
A cradle (dolā) swings back and forth without rest. The child's mind swings so among the objects it sees, the commentary says, now here, now there. And restlessness is the opposite of contentment: what swings cannot settle. Childhood is called "the inauspicious of the three worlds" (trailokyābhavya), the very type of what is unfit for peace. The reader may connect this with 1.16: the restless mind is the same, only in childhood it has no means to be still.