आपद्वनमनन्तेहापरिपल्लविताकृति । विचारक्रकचच्छिन्नं नैव भूयः प्ररोहति ॥ ३ ॥
āpadvanamanantēhāparipallavitākṛti | vicārakrakacacchinnaṁ naiva bhūyaḥ prarōhati || 3 ||
Translation
The forest of misfortune, its shape leafing out on every side with endless strivings, once cut down by the saw of inquiry, never grows again.
Word by word
- āpad
- of misfortune
- vanam
- the forest
- ananta
- endless
- īhā
- with strivings
- paripallavita
- leafing out on every side
- ākṛti
- its shape
- vicāra
- of inquiry
- krakaca
- by the saw
- cchinnaṁ
- (chinnam) cut down
- naiva
- (na eva) never
- bhūyaḥ
- again
- prarōhati
- grows
Meaning
The commentary reads the strivings as the countless activities that send out shoots in every direction. A forest that is only trimmed grows back, and the verse claims more than that for inquiry: what it cuts does not sprout again. The reason is that it reaches the root, the not-knowing from which the strivings grow. Another commentary takes krakaca, saw, for the woodpecker that works through wood, but the sense is the same.