नाऽऽनन्दाय ममोद्यानं न सुखाय मम स्त्रियः । न हर्षाय ममाऽर्थाशा शाम्यामि मनसा सह ॥ ६ ॥
nā’’nandāya mamōdyānaṁ na sukhāya mama striyaḥ | na harṣāya mamā’rthāśā śāmyāmi manasā saha || 6 ||
Translation
The garden does not gladden me, women do not please me, the hope of wealth gives me no joy: I am growing still, together with the mind.
Word by word
- na
- not
- ānandāya
- gladden
- mama
- me
- udyānaṁ
- the garden
- sukhāya
- please
- striyaḥ
- women
- harṣāya
- gives joy
- artha
- of wealth
- āśā
- the hope
- śāmyāmi
- I am growing still
- manasā
- the mind
- saha
- together with
Meaning
Three of the great pleasures of a prince are named and set aside: the pleasure garden (udyāna), women (striyaḥ) and the hope of wealth (arthāśā). The last words are the most important: śāmyāmi manasā saha, "I grow calm together with the mind". The commentary: to become quiet together with the mind is my strong wish. Rāma does not say the mind has stopped and he has been left calm; he and the mind are being stilled together. The pleasures do not please because the one who would be pleased by them is settling. The reader may see that the hunger for pleasure and the restlessness of mind are one movement, and that when one quiets, so does the other.