अभिमानविकल्पांशैरज्ञो ज्ञप्तिं विकल्पयेत् । बोधं मलिनयत्यन्तः स्वं खमब्द इवाऽमलम् ॥ १५ ॥
abhimānavikalpāṁśairajñō jñaptiṁ vikalpayēt | bōdhaṁ malinayatyantaḥ svaṁ khamabda ivā’malam || 15 ||
Translation
The ignorant man who, with the fragments of conceit and doubt, splits up knowing, darkens his own pure awareness within, as a cloud darkens the clear sky.
Word by word
- abhimāna
- of conceit
- vikalpa
- and doubt
- aṁśair
- (aṁśaiḥ) with the fragments
- ajñō
- (ajñaḥ) the ignorant man
- jñaptiṁ
- knowing
- vikalpayēt
- splits up
- bōdhaṁ
- awareness
- malinayati
- darkens
- antaḥ
- within
- svaṁ
- his own
- kham
- the sky
- abda
- a cloud
- iva
- as
- amalam
- pure
Meaning
The second kind. The commentary: as a cloud dims the spotless sky, so the fool who, with quibbles rooted in conceit, raises doubts against knowledge and its means darkens within himself the knowing that is his own Self. This is the second beak-learned. The first fears the goal; the second clouds the way to it with argument for argument's sake. In both, the sky itself is not harmed; it is only hidden from the one who clouds it.