अथाऽभ्यधात् स मां तातः पुत्र किं दुःखवानसि । दुःखोपघातं मां पृच्छ सुखी नित्यं भविष्यसि ॥ ३३ ॥
athā’bhyadhāt sa māṁ tātaḥ putra kiṁ duḥkhavānasi | duḥkhōpaghātaṁ māṁ pṛccha sukhī nityaṁ bhaviṣyasi || 33 ||
Translation
Then my father said to me: "Son, why are you sorrowful? Ask me how sorrow is ended, and you will be happy for ever."
Word by word
- atha
- then
- abhyadhāt
- said
- sa
- he
- māṁ
- to me
- tātaḥ
- my father
- putra
- son
- kiṁ
- why
- duḥkhavān
- sorrowful
- asi
- are you
- duḥkha
- of sorrow
- upaghātaṁ
- the ending
- pṛccha
- ask
- sukhī
- happy
- nityaṁ
- for ever
- bhaviṣyasi
- you will be
Meaning
The father who caused the trouble asks why his son is sad. The reader smiles, and is meant to. And see what he does: he will not simply lift the curse. He says, pṛccha, ask. The whole design of this sarga rests on that word. Brahmā could have explained everything unasked, but a teaching given to one who has not asked falls on the ground. It needs someone in pain who wants to know. This is why in so many Indian texts a teaching begins only after a question, and why the student's question has been so honoured. Whoever has come to the point of asking has already done a great part of the work.