श्रीराम उवाच । बाला अपि वदन्त्येतद्यदि चेतनमात्रकम् । जगदित्येव केवाऽत्र नाम स्यादुपदेशता ॥ ५ ॥
śrīrāma uvāca | bālā api vadantyētadyadi cētanamātrakam | jagadityēva kēvā’tra nāma syādupadēśatā || 5 ||
Translation
Rāma said: If the world is only something conscious, even children say this. What teaching would there be in it?
Word by word
- bālā
- children
- api
- even
- vadanti
- say
- ētad
- (etat) this
- yadi
- if
- cētana
- conscious
- mātrakam
- only something
- jagad
- (jagat) the world
- iti
- (marks what is said)
- ēva
- indeed
- kēva
- (kā iva) what
- atra
- in it
- nāma
- indeed
- syād
- (syāt) would there be
- upadēśatā
- teaching
Meaning
Rāma takes "consciousness alone" (cinmātra) in the everyday sense, the commentary explains: as "that which is conscious", so that the world would be something that has consciousness in it. Everyone knows that; children say it. Why teach it?