केवलं मार्जनामात्रं मनागेवोपयुज्यते । स्वभावविमले नित्यं सुबुद्धिमुकुरे तव ॥ ३ ॥
kēvalaṁ mārjanāmātraṁ manāgēvōpayujyatē | svabhāvavimalē nityaṁ subuddhimukurē tava || 3 ||
Translation
Only a little cleaning is needed for the mirror of your clear intellect, which is ever spotless by nature.
Word by word
- kēvalaṁ
- only
- mārjanā
- cleaning
- mātraṁ
- a little
- manāg
- (manāk) a little
- ēva
- just
- upayujyatē
- is needed
- svabhāva
- by nature
- vimalē
- spotless
- nityaṁ
- ever
- su
- clear
- buddhi
- of intellect
- mukurē
- for the mirror
- tava
- your
Meaning
If Rāma already knows, why is he not at peace? The answer is the image of a mirror. The intellect (buddhi) is naturally clear; it needs no new knowledge put into it, only a little cleaning (mārjana), the wiping away of a film. The commentary names the film: a slight distrust and doubt. A truth one has reached by one's own thinking is not trusted until scripture and a teacher confirm it, for as the poet says, "even the well-trained mind does not trust itself." This is a fine observation about the mind. We can see something clearly and still not rest in it, because we do not trust our own seeing. The teaching that follows in the Yoga Vāsiṣṭha is, by its own account, this cleaning: not adding to Rāma's understanding but removing the doubt that keeps him from resting in it.