पूर्वं चेद्घनतां याता नाऽभ्यासात्तव वासना । वर्द्धिष्यते तु नेदानीमपि तात सुखी भव ॥ ३७ ॥
pūrvaṁ cēdghanatāṁ yātā nā’bhyāsāttava vāsanā | varddhiṣyatē tu nēdānīmapi tāta sukhī bhava || 37 ||
Translation
If your tendency did not thicken earlier for want of practice, it will not grow now either, my dear. Be happy.
Word by word
- pūrvaṁ
- earlier
- cēd
- (cet) if
- ghanatāṁ
- thicken
- yātā
- did
- na
- not
- abhyāsāt
- for want of practice
- tava
- your
- vāsanā
- tendency
- varddhiṣyatē
- it will grow
- tu
- indeed
- idānīm
- now
- api
- either
- tāta
- my dear
- sukhī
- happy
- bhava
- be
Meaning
The tenderest verse of the sarga. Tāta, "my dear", "my son". Rāma may fear that bad tendencies lie stored in him that he does not know of. Vasiṣṭha answers: if you never practised it, it is not thick; and if you do not practise it now, it will not grow. The commentary adds: behave happily, as befits a prince, without grieving at the thought of what might go wrong. It is a release from a certain anxious spirituality that keeps searching itself for hidden evil. Sukhī bhava: be at ease. Teaching on effort ends up at ease.