सती वाऽप्यसती तापनद्येव लहरीचला । मनसेहेन्द्रजालश्रीर्जागती प्रवितन्यते ॥ १९ ॥
satī vā’pyasatī tāpanadyēva laharīcalā | manasēhēndrajālaśrīrjāgatī pravitanyatē || 19 ||
Translation
Whether real or unreal, the world's splendour, like a magic show, restless as waves on a river of mirage, is spread out here by the mind.
Word by word
- satī
- real
- vā
- or
- api
- whether
- asatī
- unreal
- tāpanadī
- on a river of mirage
- iva
- as
- laharī
- as waves
- calā
- restless
- manasā
- by the mind
- iha
- here
- indrajāla
- like a magic show
- śrīr
- (śrīḥ) splendour
- jāgatī
- the world's
- pravitanyatē
- is spread out
Meaning
The commentary takes the doubt: if the world is not real in itself, how does it appear like something real? As the river of a mirage in the desert spreads its restless waves though it does not exist, so this world, like a magic show, is made by the mind to seem real though it is not. The verse leaves "real or unreal" open on purpose: whichever one calls it, its splendour is the mind's work.