यथा वन्ध्यासुतो नाऽस्ति यथा नाऽस्ति मरौ जलम् । यथा नाऽस्ति नभोवृक्षस्तथा नाऽस्ति जगद्भ्रमः ॥ ४३ ॥
yathā vandhyāsutō nā’sti yathā nā’sti marau jalam | yathā nā’sti nabhōvṛkṣastathā nā’sti jagadbhramaḥ || 43 ||
Translation
As the son of a barren woman does not exist, as water does not exist in a desert, as a tree in the sky does not exist, so the delusion of the world does not exist.
Word by word
- yathā
- as
- vandhyā
- of a barren woman
- sutō
- (sutaḥ) the son
- na
- not
- asti
- exist
- marau
- in a desert
- jalam
- water
- nabhō
- (nabhaḥ) in the sky
- vṛkṣas
- (vṛkṣaḥ) a tree
- tathā
- so
- jagad
- (jagat) of the world
- bhramaḥ
- the delusion
Meaning
Three stock images of what cannot be. Not even the delusion exists, the verse says: once seen through, there is nothing left over to have been deluded about.