आ स्मृतं पूर्वमेतेन किलाऽऽसीदभिवाञ्छितम् । शीघ्रं स्यामेव राजेति तीव्रसंवेगधर्मिणा ॥ ३३ ॥
ā smṛtaṁ pūrvamētēna kilā’’sīdabhivāñchitam | śīghraṁ syāmēva rājēti tīvrasaṁvēgadharmiṇā || 33 ||
Translation
Ah, I remember: once he wished, it seems, with a fierce and impatient longing, "May I soon be a king!"
Word by word
- ā
- ah
- smṛtaṁ
- I remember
- pūrvam
- once
- ētēna
- he
- kila
- it seems
- āsīd
- (āsīt) was
- abhivāñchitam
- wished
- śīghraṁ
- soon
- syām
- may I be
- ēva
- indeed
- rājā
- a king
- iti
- thus
- tīvra
- fierce
- saṁvēga
- and impatient longing
- dharmiṇā
- with
Meaning
The memory explains the kingdom. Another commentary: the brahmin, a man of firm practice, saw a king passing by and longed to be such a king soon. A wish held with such force does not vanish at death; it becomes the next world one wakes in. Here is the working of desire in small: what we long for intensely, we later find ourselves living.