किं स्तनेन किमक्ष्णा वा किं नितम्बेन किं भ्रुवा । मांसमात्रैकसारेण करोम्यहमवस्तुना ॥ २४ ॥
kiṁ stanēna kimakṣṇā vā kiṁ nitambēna kiṁ bhruvā | māṁsamātraikasārēṇa karōmyahamavastunā || 24 ||
Translation
What shall I do with a breast, an eye, hips or a brow, things without substance whose only essence is flesh?
Word by word
- kiṁ
- what
- stanēna
- with a breast
- kim
- what (repeated)
- akṣṇā
- an eye
- vā
- or
- nitambēna
- hips
- bhruvā
- a brow
- māṁsa
- flesh
- mātra
- mere
- ēka
- only
- sārēṇa
- whose essence is
- karōmi
- shall do
- aham
- I
- avastunā
- things without substance
Meaning
The parts the poets praise, breast, eye, hip, brow, are named and set aside: "whose only essence is flesh" (māṃsa-mātra-eka-sāra), "without substance" (avastu). The commentary: they are utterly trivial. The verse is the end of the analysis begun in verse 2. What desire saw as treasure, inquiry sees as flesh. The reader is not asked to despise flesh, but to stop mistaking it for what it is not.