बालो व्योमैव वेतालं म्रियमाणोऽम्बरे वनम् । केशोण्ड्रकं खमन्यस्तु खमन्यो वेत्ति मौक्तिकम् ॥ ५० ॥
bālō vyōmaiva vētālaṁ mriyamāṇō’mbarē vanam | kēśōṇḍrakaṁ khamanyastu khamanyō vētti mauktikam || 50 ||
Translation
A child knows mere space as a ghost, a dying man the sky as a forest, another space as specks floating in the eye, another as pearls.
Word by word
- bālō
- (bālaḥ) a child
- vyōma
- space
- ēva
- mere
- vētālaṁ
- as a ghost
- mriyamāṇō
- (mriyamāṇaḥ) a dying man
- ambarē
- the sky
- vanam
- as a forest
- kēśōṇḍrakaṁ
- as specks floating in the eye
- kham
- space
- anyas
- (anyaḥ) another
- tu
- and
- anyō
- (anyaḥ) another
- vētti
- knows
- mauktikam
- as pearls
Meaning
The floaters one sees against a bright sky (keśoṇḍraka) and the shimmer of pearls in empty air are both space taken for something.