तरन्ति मातङ्गघटातरङ्गं रणाम्बुधिं ये मयि ते न शूराः । शूरास्त एवेह मनस्तरङ्गं देहेन्द्रियाम्भोधिमिमं तरन्ति ॥ ९ ॥
taranti mātaṅgaghaṭātaraṅgaṁ raṇāmbudhiṁ yē mayi tē na śūrāḥ | śūrāsta ēvēha manastaraṅgaṁ dēhēndriyāmbhōdhimimaṁ taranti || 9 ||
Translation
Those who cross the ocean of battle, with its waves of herds of elephants, are not heroes to me; the true heroes are those who cross this ocean of the body and senses, whose waves are the mind.
Word by word
- taranti
- who cross (twice)
- mātaṅga
- of elephants
- ghaṭā
- of herds
- taraṅgaṁ
- with its waves
- raṇa
- of battle
- ambudhiṁ
- the ocean
- yē
- those who
- mayi
- to me
- tē
- they
- na
- not
- śūrāḥ
- are heroes
- śūrās
- (śūrāḥ) the true heroes
- ta
- (te) those
- ēva
- indeed
- iha
- here
- manas
- (manaḥ) the mind
- dēha
- of the body
- indriya
- and senses
- ambhōdhim
- ocean
- imaṁ
- this
Meaning
A soldier who crosses a battlefield full of war-elephants is called brave. Rāma, a prince and warrior, says: that is not bravery. The true hero crosses the sea of the body and the senses, whose waves are the mind, the commentary says, by discrimination and dispassion. The verse redefines courage. The reader who struggles with their own mind is shown that this is the harder war.