आदातुमिच्छन् पदमुत्तमानां स्वचेतसैवाऽपहतोऽद्य लोकः । पतत्यशङ्कं पशुरद्रिकूटा- दानीलवल्लीफलवाञ्छयैव ॥ ३७ ॥
ādātumicchan padamuttamānāṁ svacētasaivā’pahatō’dya lōkaḥ | patatyaśaṅkaṁ paśuradrikūṭā- dānīlavallīphalavāñchayaiva || 37 ||
Translation
Wishing to take the place of the highest, people today are struck down by their own minds and fall without hesitation, as a beast falls from a mountain peak in its longing for the fruit of a green creeper.
Word by word
- ādātum
- to take
- icchan
- wishing
- padam
- the place
- uttamānāṁ
- of the highest
- sva
- their own
- cētasā
- by minds
- ēva
- just
- apahatō
- (apahataḥ) struck down
- adya
- today
- lōkaḥ
- people
- patati
- fall
- aśaṅkaṁ
- without hesitation
- paśur
- (paśuḥ) a beast
- adri
- of a mountain
- kūṭād
- (kūṭāt) from the peak
- ānīla
- green
- vallī
- of a creeper
- phala
- for the fruit
- vāñchayā
- in its longing
Meaning
A goat that sees green leaves at the cliff's edge reaches for them and falls. People who reach for high positions, the commentary says, wealth, kingdom, honour, fall in the same way, struck down by their own minds. The verse names ambition as a kind of greed. The reader may ask what green leaves they are reaching for, and how near the edge.