भगवद्व्यासपुत्रस्य शुकस्येव मतिस्तव । विश्रान्तिमात्रमेवाऽन्तर्ज्ञातज्ञेयाऽप्यपेक्षते ॥ ४ ॥
bhagavadvyāsaputrasya śukasyēva matistava | viśrāntimātramēvā’ntarjñātajñēyā’pyapēkṣatē || 4 ||
Translation
Your mind is like that of Śuka, son of the blessed Vyāsa: it has known what is to be known, and asks only for rest within.
Word by word
- bhagavad
- (bhagavat) of the blessed
- vyāsa
- Vyāsa
- putrasya
- son
- śukasya
- of Śuka
- iva
- like that
- matis
- (matiḥ) mind
- tava
- your
- viśrānti
- rest
- mātram
- only
- ēva
- indeed
- antar
- (antaḥ) within
- jñāta
- has known
- jñēyā
- (jñeyā) what is to be known
- api
- though
- apēkṣatē
- asks for
Meaning
Viśvāmitra names the example he will tell: Śuka, the son of Vyāsa. Like Rāma, Śuka had known the truth; like Rāma, he lacked one thing, rest (viśrānti), the settling of the mind in what it knows. The word recurs through the sarga and is its theme. Knowing and resting are not the same. One can know that the Self alone is real and still be restless, still looking for something more. What is wanted is not a further truth but the end of looking. The commentary adds that the Vyāsa and Śuka meant are those of the end of the previous age, since a Vyāsa is born at the end of every Dvāpara age. The reader may ask whether his own understanding is of the kind that knows, or of the kind that rests.