अभूम व्यासवाल्मीकियुक्ता वयमनेकशः । अभूम वयमेवेमे बहुशश्च पृथक् पृथक् ॥ २७ ॥
abhūma vyāsavālmīkiyuktā vayamanēkaśaḥ | abhūma vayamēvēmē bahuśaśca pṛthak pṛthak || 27 ||
Translation
We have been, joined with Vyāsa and Vālmīki, many times; and we, these very ones, have been many times each apart.
Word by word
- abhūma
- we have been
- vyāsa
- with Vyāsa
- vālmīki
- and Vālmīki
- yuktā
- (yuktāḥ) joined
- vayam
- we
- anēkaśaḥ
- many times
- ēva
- very
- imē
- these
- bahuśaś
- (bahuśaḥ) many times
- ca
- and
- pṛthak
- apart; each
Meaning
Vasiṣṭha speaks of "we", the sages gathered in the hall. They have been together with Vyāsa and Vālmīki many times, and many times separately. The commentary: Rāma, we have been born many times together with Vyāsa and Vālmīki, and many times each on his own. The assembly in Daśaratha's hall has met before. The repetition "we have been" (abhūma) in this and the next verse has the rhythm of a refrain, as if Vasiṣṭha were counting lives the way one counts beads.