संसाराडम्बरमिदं कथमभ्युत्थितं मुने । कथं च प्रशमं याति कियत्कस्य कदेति वा ॥ १४ ॥
saṁsārāḍambaramidaṁ kathamabhyutthitaṁ munē | kathaṁ ca praśamaṁ yāti kiyatkasya kadēti vā || 14 ||
Translation
"Sage, how did this show of the world arise? And how does it come to rest? How great is it, whose is it, and when?"
Word by word
- saṁsāra
- of the world
- āḍambaram
- show
- idaṁ
- this
- katham
- how
- abhyutthitaṁ
- did arise
- munē
- sage
- kathaṁ
- how
- ca
- and
- praśamaṁ
- to rest
- yāti
- does come
- kiyat
- how great
- kasya
- whose
- kadā
- when
- iti
- thus
- vā
- or
Meaning
Śuka's question is the question of all metaphysics, put in a few words. The world is an āḍambara, a show; the commentary defines the word as an artificial display made to deceive others. How did it arise, how does it end, how far does it reach (kiyat), to whom does it belong (kasya), and when (kadā)? The commentary unfolds "whose": does the world belong to the body, to the senses, to the mind, to the breath, to their aggregate, to some other thing that changes, or to unchanging consciousness alone? To call the world a show is already to suspect the answer. One does not ask how a show arose unless one has begun to see it as a show.