ततः प्रवेशयामास जनकः शुकमङ्गणम् । तत्राऽहानि स सप्तैव तथैवाऽवसदुन्मनाः ॥ २२ ॥
tataḥ pravēśayāmāsa janakaḥ śukamaṅgaṇam | tatrā’hāni sa saptaiva tathaivā’vasadunmanāḥ || 22 ||
Translation
Then Janaka had Śuka brought into the courtyard; there too he stayed seven days, as before, his mind set elsewhere.
Word by word
- tataḥ
- then
- pravēśayāmāsa
- had brought
- janakaḥ
- Janaka
- śukam
- Śuka
- aṅgaṇam
- into the courtyard
- tatra
- there
- ahāni
- days
- sa
- he
- sapta
- seven
- ēva
- too
- tathaiva
- (tathā eva) as before
- avasad
- (avasat) he stayed
- unmanāḥ
- his mind set elsewhere
Meaning
After seven days at the gate, Śuka is let into the courtyard (aṅgaṇa), and there too he waits seven days. He stays "just as before" (tathaiva), and his mind is "elsewhere" (unmanāḥ). The commentary reads the word carefully: his mind was turned towards the eagerness for truth, and paid no attention to the slight. He does not grow angry or hurt. He does not leave. He is not offended by being made to wait, because he is not there for himself. The reader may measure his own seeking against this: how long would he wait at a gate, unthanked, for what he came for?