सर्वत्र पाषाणमया महीध्रा मृदा मही दारुभिरेव वृक्षाः । मांसैर्जनाः पौरुषबद्धभावा नाऽपूर्वमस्तीह विकारहीनम् ॥ ३३ ॥
sarvatra pāṣāṇamayā mahīdhrā mṛdā mahī dārubhirēva vṛkṣāḥ | māṁsairjanāḥ pauruṣabaddhabhāvā nā’pūrvamastīha vikārahīnam || 33 ||
Translation
Everywhere the mountains are made of stone, the earth of clay, the trees of wood alone, and people of flesh, their nature bound to human effort: nothing here is new, free of modification.
Word by word
- sarvatra
- everywhere
- pāṣāṇa
- of stone
- mayā
- (mayāḥ) made
- mahīdhrā
- (mahīdhrāḥ) the mountains
- mṛdā
- of clay
- mahī
- the earth
- dārubhir
- (dārubhiḥ) of wood
- ēva
- alone
- vṛkṣāḥ
- the trees
- māṁsair
- (māṃsaiḥ) of flesh
- janāḥ
- people
- pauruṣa
- to human effort
- baddha
- bound
- bhāvā
- (bhāvāḥ) their nature
- na
- nothing
- apūrvam
- new
- asti
- is
- iha
- here
- vikāra
- of modification
- hīnam
- free
Meaning
Now inquiry dissolves the things themselves. Mountains are only stone, earth only clay, trees only wood, people only flesh and bone. The commentary: names are given for use; in fact they are not different from their material, and the whole world is one substance in modification. "Nothing new" (nāpūrvam): there is nothing that is not merely a change of something else. This is the first step of the Vedāntic analysis the work will teach: from forms to their stuff, and from the stuff to the one reality.