श्रीराम उवाच । वृत्तेऽस्मिन्नेवमेतेषां कालादीनां महामुने । संसारनाम्नि कैवाऽऽस्था मादृशानां वदन्त्विह ॥ १ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | vṛttē’sminnēvamētēṣāṁ kālādīnāṁ mahāmunē | saṁsāranāmni kaivā’’sthā mādṛśānāṁ vadantviha || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Rāma said: Since this is how Time and the others behave, great sage, tell me: what trust can people like me have here, in what is called the world?
Word by word
- śrī
- Śrī
- rāma
- Rāma
- uvāca
- said
- vṛttē
- since behave
- asminn
- (asmin) this
- ēvam
- is how
- ētēṣāṁ
- these
- kāla
- Time
- ādīnāṁ
- and the others
- mahāmunē
- great sage
- saṁsāra
- the world
- nāmni
- in what is called
- kā
- what
- ēva
- indeed
- āsthā
- trust
- mādṛśānāṁ
- people like me
- vadantu
- tell me
- iha
- here
Meaning
The three preceding sargas showed Time as destroyer, hunter and dancer. Now Rāma draws the conclusion for himself. The commentary sets up the question: one might say, "Let Time do as it likes; what harm is it to you?" Rāma answers by showing what the world under Time actually looks like, so that dispassion, its fruit, may arise. The question "what trust?" (kaivāsthā) will return as a refrain from verse 23. The reader is asked to put the question to their own life: on what in this world can I really rely?