नानारसमयी चित्रवृत्तान्तनिचयोम्भिता । भीमा यौवनभूर्येन तीर्णा धीरः स उच्यते ॥ ७ ॥
nānārasamayī citravṛttāntanicayōmbhitā | bhīmā yauvanabhūryēna tīrṇā dhīraḥ sa ucyatē || 7 ||
Translation
The fearful land of youth, full of every flavour, crowded with a mass of strange happenings: whoever has crossed it is called steadfast.
Word by word
- nānā
- every
- rasa
- flavour
- mayī
- full of
- citra
- of strange
- vṛttānta
- happenings
- nicaya
- with a mass
- umbhitā
- crowded
- bhīmā
- the fearful
- yauvana
- of youth
- bhūr
- (bhūḥ) land
- yēna
- whoever
- tīrṇā
- has crossed
- dhīraḥ
- steadfast
- sa
- (saḥ) he
- ucyatē
- is called
Meaning
Youth is a wild country to be crossed, full of the rasas, the flavours of feeling, love above all, and of strange adventures. The commentary: whoever has crossed this terrible ground is called dhīra, steadfast. The title is earned not by escaping the land but by crossing it. The reader is not asked to avoid youth, which no one can, but to cross it with their eyes open.