अथ शृणु कथां वक्ष्ये त्वमेवाऽस्या हि भाजनम् । नहि चन्द्रं विना शुद्धा सविकासा कुमुद्वती ॥ ६ ॥
atha śṛṇu kathāṁ vakṣyē tvamēvā’syā hi bhājanam | nahi candraṁ vinā śuddhā savikāsā kumudvatī || 6 ||
Translation
Now listen: I shall tell the account, and you alone are its vessel. For the pure night-lotus does not open without the moon.
Word by word
- atha
- now
- śṛṇu
- listen
- kathāṁ
- the account
- vakṣyē
- I shall tell
- tvam
- you
- ēva
- alone
- asyā
- (asyāḥ) its
- hi
- for
- bhājanam
- vessel
- nahi
- does not
- candraṁ
- the moon
- vinā
- without
- śuddhā
- pure
- savikāsā
- open
- kumudvatī
- the night-lotus
Meaning
Kumudvatī is the white water-lily that opens only at moonrise. The commentary reverses what one might expect: here Rāma is the moon, and the teaching is the lily, which opens only in him. The account comes to bloom in a listener fit for it, and not otherwise. The same words, heard by another, stay shut. That is why one person can be changed by a page that leaves another unmoved. The page is the same, and what differs is the one it finds.