प्रविचारयतो लोकयात्रामलमिमां हृदि । तवेव किल तस्याऽपि विवेक उदभूदयम् ॥ ९ ॥
pravicārayatō lōkayātrāmalamimāṁ hṛdi | tavēva kila tasyā’pi vivēka udabhūdayam || 9 ||
Translation
As he turned over in his heart this whole course of the world, the same discernment arose in him too, they say, as in you.
Word by word
- pravicārayatō
- (pravicārayataḥ) as he turned over
- lōka
- of the world
- yātrām
- course
- alam
- whole
- imāṁ
- this
- hṛdi
- in his heart
- tava
- in you
- iva
- as
- kila
- they say
- tasya
- in him
- api
- too
- vivēka
- (vivekaḥ) discernment
- udabhūd
- (udabhūt) arose
- ayam
- the same
Meaning
Śuka's path began as Rāma's did: by reflecting (pravicārayataḥ) on the course of the world (loka-yātrā), the round of birth, effort, pleasure, loss and death. Out of that reflection came discernment (viveka), the power to tell the lasting from the passing. The word "too" (api) and the phrase "as in you" (tava iva) make the parallel explicit. The commentary: as you constantly reflect on the state of the world, so did he, and the same discernment arose. Discernment is not given from outside; it rises in a mind that looks honestly at its life. The reader who has looked at the course of his own days with this kind of attention has begun the same way.