सतां कथमिवाऽऽस्थेह जायते जालपञ्जरे । बाला एवाऽत्तुमिच्छन्ति फलं मुकुरबिम्बितम् ॥ २ ॥
satāṁ kathamivā’’sthēha jāyatē jālapañjarē | bālā ēvā’ttumicchanti phalaṁ mukurabimbitam || 2 ||
Translation
How could the good put their trust here, in this cage of nets? Only children want to eat the fruit reflected in a mirror.
Word by word
- satāṁ
- the good
- katham
- how
- iva
- indeed
- āsthā
- trust
- iha
- here
- jāyatē
- could put
- jāla
- of nets
- pañjarē
- in this cage
- bālā
- (bālāḥ) children
- ēva
- only
- attum
- to eat
- icchanti
- want
- phalaṁ
- the fruit
- mukura
- in a mirror
- bimbitam
- reflected
Meaning
A child sees a fruit in a mirror and reaches for it. The world of objects, the commentary says, is like that: a net that draws one from afar, a cage of bodies that confines. The wise do not try to eat the reflection. The image is exact for the whole teaching that follows: the world is real enough to see and not real enough to hold.