श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । एतां दृष्टिमवष्टभ्य दृष्टात्मानः सुबुद्धयः । विचरन्तीह संसारे महान्तोऽभ्युदिता इव ॥ १ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | ētāṁ dṛṣṭimavaṣṭabhya dṛṣṭātmānaḥ subuddhayaḥ | vicarantīha saṁsārē mahāntō’bhyuditā iva || 1 ||
Translation
Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: Holding to this vision, those of fine understanding who have seen the Self move through saṁsāra like great ones risen to empire.
Word by word
- śrīvasiṣṭha
- Śrī Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- ētāṁ
- this
- dṛṣṭim
- vision
- avaṣṭabhya
- holding to
- dṛṣṭa
- who have seen
- ātmānaḥ
- the Self
- subuddhayaḥ
- those of fine understanding
- vicaranti
- move
- iha
- here
- saṁsārē
- through saṁsāra
- mahāntō
- (mahāntaḥ) great ones
- abhyuditā
- (abhyuditāḥ) risen to empire
- iva
- like
Meaning
The last sarga ended with wandering turned to delight, and this one opens with those who live so. The commentary says Vasiṣṭha now describes the state of living liberation before going on to the means. The comparison is a royal one: another commentary spells out that they go about as if they had come into an empire. A person who has inherited a kingdom has nothing to prove and nothing to beg for, and moves accordingly. Vasiṣṭha offers Rāma, who stands to inherit a real kingdom, the idea of an empire of a different kind.