न जीवोऽस्ति न जीवानां राशयः सन्ति राघव । न चैकः पर्वतप्रख्यो जीवपिण्डोऽस्ति कश्चन ॥ १९ ॥
na jīvō’sti na jīvānāṁ rāśayaḥ santi rāghava | na caikaḥ parvataprakhyō jīvapiṇḍō’sti kaścana || 19 ||
Translation
There is no jīva, Rāghava, and there are no heaps of jīvas; nor is there any one mass of jīvas like a mountain.
Word by word
- na
- no
- jīvō
- (jīvaḥ) jīva
- asti
- there is
- jīvānāṁ
- of jīvas
- rāśayaḥ
- heaps
- santi
- are
- rāghava
- Rāghava
- ca
- and
- ēkaḥ
- one
- parvata
- a mountain
- prakhyō
- (prakhyaḥ) like
- jīva
- of jīvas
- piṇḍō
- (piṇḍaḥ) mass
- kaścana
- any
Meaning
The commentary takes verses 18 and 19 together: when the jīva does not exist, what room is there for imagining it as a heap or a mass? Neither one jīva, nor a crowd, nor a mountain-shaped mass of jīvas exists. All three of Rāma's options assumed the jīva; Vasiṣṭha withdraws the assumption.