शतादेकतमस्यैव सर्वोदारचमत्कृतिः । ईप्सितार्थार्पणैकान्तदक्षा भवति भारती ॥ ३२ ॥
śatādēkatamasyaiva sarvōdāracamatkṛtiḥ | īpsitārthārpaṇaikāntadakṣā bhavati bhāratī || 32 ||
Translation
"Only in one out of a hundred is speech found that is wholly noble and wonderful, and supremely skilled in conveying the meaning it intends."
Word by word
- śatād
- (śatāt) out of a hundred
- ēkatamasya
- in one
- ēva
- only
- sarva
- wholly
- udāra
- noble
- camatkṛtiḥ
- and wonderful
- īpsita
- it intends
- artha
- the meaning
- arpaṇa
- in conveying
- ēkānta
- supremely
- dakṣā
- skilled
- bhavati
- is found
- bhāratī
- speech
Meaning
Bhāratī, Sarasvatī, the goddess of speech, is found in her fullness in perhaps one speaker in a hundred. The commentary: the speech that delights the heart in every part and has the power to give the meaning intended is found in one among hundreds of speakers. Many can speak; few can say exactly what they mean so that it reaches the hearer. Rāma's discourse was of that kind. The reader may notice the rarity in their own experience: how seldom something is said to them exactly as it needed to be said.