श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । रामाऽस्य मनसो रूपं न किञ्चिदपि दृश्यते । नाममात्रादृते व्योम्नो यथा शून्यजडाकृतेः ॥ ३८ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | rāmā’sya manasō rūpaṁ na kiñcidapi dṛśyatē | nāmamātrādṛtē vyōmnō yathā śūnyajaḍākṛtēḥ || 38 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: "Rāma, no form whatever of this mind is seen apart from its name, just as with space, whose nature is void and inert.
Word by word
- rāma
- Rāma
- asya
- of this
- manasō
- (manasaḥ) mind
- rūpaṁ
- form
- na
- no
- kiñcid
- (kiñcit) whatever
- api
- at all
- dṛśyatē
- is seen
- nāma
- its name
- mātrād
- (mātrāt) apart from
- ṛtē
- apart from
- vyōmnō
- (vyomnaḥ) with space
- yathā
- just as
- śūnya
- void
- jaḍa
- and inert
- ākṛtēḥ
- whose nature is
Meaning
The answer begins by denying the premise: mind has no form to describe. Space too is only a name for an absence; point to it and you point at nothing. The commentary: as space, which is void and inert, has no form beyond its name, so the mind, void and inert, has no form beyond its name. To look for the mind as a thing is already to have misunderstood it.