तेनाऽसौ स्वविवेकेन स्वयमेव महामनाः । प्रविचार्य चिरं चारु यत्सत्यं तदवाप्तवान् ॥ १० ॥
tēnā’sau svavivēkēna svayamēva mahāmanāḥ | pravicārya ciraṁ cāru yatsatyaṁ tadavāptavān || 10 ||
Translation
By that discernment of his own, the great-minded one, reflecting long and well by himself, reached what is true.
Word by word
- tēna
- by that
- asau
- the
- sva
- of his own
- vivēkēna
- discernment
- svayam
- by himself
- ēva
- indeed
- mahāmanāḥ
- great-minded one
- pravicārya
- reflecting
- ciraṁ
- long
- cāru
- well
- yat
- what
- satyaṁ
- is true
- tad
- (tat) that
- avāptavān
- reached
Meaning
Śuka did not stop at seeing through the world. He went on reflecting, long (ciram) and well (cāru), and by his own discernment reached what is real (yat satyam). The commentary: he attained the one undivided Self, pure consciousness, which is the truth of the highest. The emphasis falls on "by himself" (svayam eva). Śuka's knowledge was his own, not borrowed. This matters for the rest of the story: his difficulty was not that he had been told the truth without seeing it. He had seen it. What he lacked was not insight but trust.