भरद्वाज उवाच । जीवन्मुक्तस्थितिं ब्रह्मन् कृत्वा राघवमादितः । क्रमात् कथय मे नित्यं भविष्यामि सुखी यथा ॥ १ ॥
bharadvāja uvāca | jīvanmuktasthitiṁ brahman kṛtvā rāghavamāditaḥ | kramāt kathaya mē nityaṁ bhaviṣyāmi sukhī yathā || 1 ||
Translation
Bharadvāja said: O sage, taking Rāghava as the beginning, tell me in order the state of one who is liberated while living, so that I may be happy for ever.
Word by word
- bharadvāja
- Bharadvāja
- uvāca
- said
- jīvanmukta
- one liberated while living
- sthitiṁ
- the state
- brahman
- (brahman) O sage
- kṛtvā
- taking
- rāghavam
- Rāghava (Rāma)
- āditaḥ
- as the beginning
- kramāt
- in order
- kathaya
- tell
- mē
- me
- nityaṁ
- for ever
- bhaviṣyāmi
- I shall be
- sukhī
- happy
- yathā
- so that
Meaning
Bharadvāja has heard (1.2.29) that Rāma and his companions lived as the liberated live, and now asks how that state is reached and what it is like. "Taking Rāghava as the beginning" means making Rāma's story the frame of the teaching. The commentary compares the way the Upaniṣads stage the teaching as a dialogue between Janaka and Yājñavalkya: a story is set up so that the truth can be taught through it. Rāma, it adds, is in truth ever free; his bondage and his awakening are told for the sake of those who hear.