ततः पृष्टः स भगवान् मया सकललोककृत् । हेमपद्मदलस्थेन संसारव्याधिभेषजम् ॥ ३४ ॥
tataḥ pṛṣṭaḥ sa bhagavān mayā sakalalōkakṛt | hēmapadmadalasthēna saṁsāravyādhibhēṣajam || 34 ||
Translation
So, seated on the petal of the golden lotus, I asked the Blessed One, maker of all the worlds, for the medicine for the sickness of saṁsāra:
Word by word
- tataḥ
- so
- pṛṣṭaḥ
- was asked
- sa
- he
- bhagavān
- the Blessed One
- mayā
- by me
- sakala
- of all
- lōka
- the worlds
- kṛt
- maker
- hēma
- golden
- padma
- of the lotus
- dala
- on the petal
- sthēna
- seated
- saṁsāra
- of saṁsāra
- vyādhi
- the sickness
- bhēṣajam
- the medicine for
Meaning
Saṁsāra-vyādhi-bheṣajam, the medicine for the disease of saṁsāra. The metaphor has been growing since the word doṣa two verses back, which is also a medical term. To call the human condition a sickness is to say two helpful things: it is not our essence, and it can be treated. Vasiṣṭha goes to the physician who, in this story, also caused the illness. He sits where he has always sat, on the golden petal, and all he needs, a touch of knowledge, has been within reach of his hand the whole time. Few of us are so differently placed from him.