श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । असदेव सदाभाति जगत्सर्वात्मकं यथा । शृण्वहं कथया राम दीर्घया कथयामि ते ॥ २८ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | asadēva sadābhāti jagatsarvātmakaṁ yathā | śṛṇvahaṁ kathayā rāma dīrghayā kathayāmi tē || 28 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: How the unreal world, which is everything, always shines as real, listen: I shall tell you, Rāma, in a long tale.
Word by word
- asad
- (asat) unreal
- ēva
- indeed
- sadā
- always
- ābhāti
- shines
- jagat
- the world
- sarvātmakaṁ
- which is everything
- yathā
- how
- śṛṇu
- listen
- ahaṁ
- I
- kathayā
- in a tale
- rāma
- Rāma
- dīrghayā
- long
- kathayāmi
- shall tell
- tē
- you
Meaning
The commentary introduces the verse: Rāma raised the doubt that the world and a dream are not alike in how they are perceived, and Vasiṣṭha promises to settle it through the tale of creation still to be told. Vasiṣṭha said: this world is Brahman itself, nothing besides; how, though unreal as a world, it appears real, I will tell you in a very long tale, which the commentary names as the tale of the pavilion (maṇḍapa) and those that grow from it; listen. Its point: though the world is perceived very firmly, it is unreal and appears as real, and in that it is just like a dream; its firmness comes only from having been rooted for so long. Another commentary also names the pavilion tale. Vasiṣṭha does not answer in a sentence; a lifelong habit of seeing is not undone by a sentence.