सुभगाः सुलभारोहाः फलपल्लवशालिनः । जायन्ते तरवो देशे न तु चन्दनपादपाः ॥ ४० ॥
subhagāḥ sulabhārōhāḥ phalapallavaśālinaḥ | jāyantē taravō dēśē na tu candanapādapāḥ || 40 ||
Translation
"Lovely trees, easy to climb, rich in fruit and leaves, grow in every land; but not sandal trees."
Word by word
- subhagāḥ
- lovely
- sulabha
- easy
- ārōhāḥ
- to climb
- phala
- in fruit
- pallava
- and leaves
- śālinaḥ
- rich
- jāyantē
- grow
- taravō
- (taravaḥ) trees
- dēśē
- in every land
- na
- not
- tu
- but
- candana
- sandal
- pādapāḥ
- trees
Meaning
The sandal tree (candana) is the image of rare fragrance; ordinary trees, beautiful, fruitful, easy to climb, grow everywhere. Good people, generous and pleasant, are common enough; a mind like Rāma's, whose fragrance spreads to all around, is not. The commentary keeps the image without comment. The reader may notice that the verse does not despise the ordinary trees; it simply knows the difference.