सङ्कल्पनिर्माणमिव मनोराज्यविलासवत् । इन्द्रजालमाल इव कथार्थप्रतिभासवत् ॥ ११ ॥
saṅkalpanirmāṇamiva manōrājyavilāsavat | indrajālamāla iva kathārthapratibhāsavat || 11 ||
Translation
Like a thing built by imagining, like the play of a kingdom in the mind, like a garland made by magic, like the meaning that shines in a story,
Word by word
- saṅkalpa
- by imagining
- nirmāṇam
- a thing built
- iva
- like
- manō
- (manaḥ) in the mind
- rājya
- of a kingdom
- vilāsa
- the play
- vat
- like
- indrajāla
- by magic
- mālaḥ
- a garland
- kathā
- in a story
- artha
- the meaning
- pratibhāsa
- that shines
Meaning
Six verses of images begin, showing that the world, made of latent desire, is in truth an error. The commentary introduces them so. The world is like what imagination builds (saṅkalpa-nirmāṇa); like the play of a daydream kingdom (manorājya), where one rules a realm that is nowhere; like a garland conjured by a magician (indrajāla-māla); like the meaning of a story (kathārtha), which is vivid to the listener though nothing in it is present. Each image has the same structure: something fully experienced that has no existence of its own apart from the mind experiencing it.