चिरमाशैशवादेव तवाऽभ्यासोऽस्ति सद्गुणैः । शुद्धैः शुद्धस्य दीर्घैश्च पद्मस्येवाऽतिसन्ततैः ॥ ५ ॥
ciramāśaiśavādēva tavā’bhyāsō’sti sadguṇaiḥ | śuddhaiḥ śuddhasya dīrghaiśca padmasyēvā’tisantataiḥ || 5 ||
Translation
From childhood you have long been at home with good qualities, pure as you are pure, long and well spread out, as a lotus is with its fibres.
Word by word
- ciram
- long
- āśaiśavād
- (āśaiśavāt) from childhood
- ēva
- indeed
- tava
- your
- abhyāsō
- (abhyāsaḥ) being at home
- asti
- there is
- sadguṇaiḥ
- with good qualities
- śuddhaiḥ
- pure
- śuddhasya
- as you are pure
- dīrghaiś
- (dīrghaiḥ) long
- ca
- and
- padmasya
- of a lotus
- iva
- as
- ati
- well
- santataiḥ
- spread out
Meaning
Rāma's dispassion was said to have no cause in events, and here its preparation is named. Abhyāsa is habit, long acquaintance. The commentary draws out the image: a lotus has fragrance and its long fibres from the start and never loses them, and they spread on every side. So Vasiṣṭha adds a needed balance to what he has said. A sudden-seeming clarity usually has a long, quiet history behind it. A reader who wishes for Rāma's insight may learn from this where it came from: the ordinary decencies kept up from early on.