वसिष्ठ उवाच । सौम्याऽम्बुत्वे तरङ्गत्वे सलिलस्याऽम्बुता यथा । समैवाऽब्धौ तथाऽदेहसदेहमुनिमुक्तता ॥ १ ॥
vasiṣṭha uvāca | saumyā’mbutvē taraṅgatvē salilasyā’mbutā yathā | samaivā’bdhau tathā’dēhasadēhamunimuktatā || 1 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: As the water of the sea is the same water whether calm or in waves, so is the freedom of a sage the same, with a body or without one.
Word by word
- vasiṣṭha
- Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- saumya
- calm
- ambutvē
- as water
- taraṅgatvē
- in waves
- salilasya
- of the water
- ambutā
- being water
- yathā
- as
- samā
- (samā) the same
- ēva
- indeed
- abdhau
- of the sea
- tathā
- so
- adēha
- without a body
- sadēha
- with a body
- muni
- of a sage
- muktatā
- freedom
Meaning
Vasiṣṭha completes his answer to Rāma's question of the last sarga: why is Vyāsa still embodied when Śuka is not? The answer is that it makes no difference. Freedom (muktatā) is the same in the sage who keeps a body and in the one who has left it, as sea water is the same water calm (saumya) or rising in waves. The commentary: bondage is nothing but the covering of ignorance over the Self, which is always free; freedom is the end of that covering. Once it is gone, the world is like a painted tiger: seen, but no longer feared, even enjoyed. The body is a wave; whether it stands or falls does not touch the water.