श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । परमार्कप्रकाशान्तस्त्रिजगत्त्रसरेणवः । उत्पत्योत्पत्य लीना ये न संख्यामुपयान्ति ते ॥ ४ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | paramārkaprakāśāntastrijagattrasarēṇavaḥ | utpatyōtpatya līnā yē na saṁkhyāmupayānti tē || 4 ||
Translation
Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: Within the light of the supreme sun, the motes that are the three worlds have arisen again and again and dissolved; they cannot be counted.
Word by word
- śrīvasiṣṭha
- Śrī Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- parama
- supreme
- arka
- of the sun
- prakāśa
- the light
- antas
- (antaḥ) within
- trijagat
- that are the three worlds
- trasarēṇavaḥ
- the motes
- utpatya
- having arisen; again and again
- līnā
- (līnāḥ) dissolved
- yē
- which
- na
- not
- saṁkhyām
- counted
- upayānti
- can be
- tē
- they
Meaning
Vasiṣṭha does not answer directly. The commentary explains why: Rāma will not trust the freedom of the living until he sees that the Self is the unlimited ground of all; so first Vasiṣṭha lays the gross world on the witness (adhyāropa), to take it away again later. The image is vast. The Self is the supreme sun (paramārka); in its light, worlds float like the specks of dust (trasareṇu) seen in a sunbeam, countless, arising and vanishing. The commentary quotes the Upaniṣad: "by whose light the sun shines." It also notes that this already hints at the answer: Vyāsas too arise without number. Rāma's question about one man is set against the scale of countless worlds.