नित्यं विचारयुक्तेन भवितव्यं महात्मना । तथाऽन्धकूपे पततां विचारो ह्यवलम्बनम् ॥ ४८ ॥
nityaṁ vicārayuktēna bhavitavyaṁ mahātmanā | tathā’ndhakūpē patatāṁ vicārō hyavalambanam || 48 ||
Translation
The great-souled should always be joined to inquiry. So it is: for those falling into the blind well, inquiry is the support.
Word by word
- nityaṁ
- always
- vicāra
- to inquiry
- yuktēna
- joined
- bhavitavyaṁ
- should be
- mahātmanā
- the great-souled
- tathā
- so it is
- andhakūpē
- into the blind well
- patatāṁ
- for those falling
- vicārō
- (vicāraḥ) inquiry
- hi
- indeed
- avalambanam
- the support
Meaning
The commentary reads the blind well as attachment and aversion, into which people fall without seeing it, and says it is well known that inquiry is what they can hold on to. An old well overgrown with grass can't be seen until one is in it. Inquiry is the rope that is there when needed, and it must be held always, for no one knows when the fall will come.