केवलं सुसमः स्वस्थो मौनी मुदितमानसः । अतिष्ठत् स शुकस्तत्र सम्पूर्ण इव चन्द्रमाः ॥ २६ ॥
kēvalaṁ susamaḥ svasthō maunī muditamānasaḥ | atiṣṭhat sa śukastatra sampūrṇa iva candramāḥ || 26 ||
Translation
Śuka remained there, simply even, at ease in himself, silent, his mind content, like the full moon.
Word by word
- kēvalaṁ
- simply
- susamaḥ
- even
- svasthō
- (svasthaḥ) at ease in himself
- maunī
- silent
- mudita
- content
- mānasaḥ
- his mind
- atiṣṭhat
- remained
- sa
- he
- śukas
- (śukaḥ) Śuka
- tatra
- there
- sampūrṇa
- (sampūrṇaḥ) full
- iva
- like
- candramāḥ
- the moon
Meaning
Śuka's state is described in five words. Even (susama): the same in honour and in neglect, in pleasure and in pain. At ease in himself (svastha): resting in his own nature, not in his surroundings. Silent (maunī): the commentary takes it as having the senses, speech first, under control. Content in mind (mudita-mānasa). And like the full moon (sampūrṇa candramāḥ): whole, calm and quietly bright. "Simply" (kevalam) means that this was all; there was nothing more to him than this evenness. The reader may take the five words as a description of the mind that the teaching aims at: not a special experience, but this unshaken ordinary calm.