विकल्पेभ्यो लुठन्त्येताश्चाऽन्तःकरणवृत्तयः । श्वभ्रेभ्य इव सारङ्गास्तुच्छालम्बविडम्बिताः ॥ ४ ॥
vikalpēbhyō luṭhantyētāścā’ntaḥkaraṇavṛttayaḥ | śvabhrēbhya iva sāraṅgāstucchālambaviḍambitāḥ || 4 ||
Translation
Driven by doubts, these movements of the inner mind tumble down, as deer, deceived by poor grass hanging at the edge, tumble into chasms.
Word by word
- vikalpēbhyō
- (vikalpebhyaḥ) driven by doubts
- luṭhanti
- tumble down
- ētāś
- (etāḥ) these
- ca
- and
- antaḥkaraṇa
- of the inner mind
- vṛttayaḥ
- movements
- śvabhrēbhya
- (śvabhrebhyaḥ) into chasms
- iva
- as
- sāraṅgās
- (sāraṅgāḥ) deer
- tuccha
- by poor
- ālamba
- grass hanging at the edge
- viḍambitāḥ
- deceived
Meaning
Deer graze to the very edge of a cliff, reach for a tuft of grass hanging over it, and fall. The commentary: as deer, cheated by greed for worthless grass, fall into pits, so the movements of my mind (antaḥkaraṇa-vṛtti), cheated by worthless objects, fall into the pit of sorrow. Doubts (vikalpa), the mind's endless "perhaps this, perhaps that", are what push them. The grass is a small thing; the fall is great. That disproportion is the lesson: the mind loses its footing reaching for trifles. The reader may notice how often a small thing, one more look, one more word, one more helping, is what takes them over the edge.