श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । तच्चितास्तद्गतप्राणा बोधयन्तः परस्परम् । कथयन्तश्च तं नित्यं तुष्यन्ति च रमन्ति च ॥ १ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | taccitāstadgataprāṇā bōdhayantaḥ parasparam | kathayantaśca taṁ nityaṁ tuṣyanti ca ramanti ca || 1 ||
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: With their minds on That, their lives gone into That, awakening one another, and speaking of it always, they are content and they delight.
Word by word
- tac
- (tat) on That
- citās
- (citāḥ) their minds
- tad
- into That
- gata
- gone
- prāṇā
- their lives
- bōdhayantaḥ
- awakening
- parasparam
- one another
- kathayantaś
- (kathayantaḥ) speaking
- ca
- and
- taṁ
- of it
- nityaṁ
- always
- tuṣyanti
- they are content
- ramanti
- they delight
Meaning
The verse is almost word for word the Bhagavad Gītā (10.9), where Kṛṣṇa says of his devotees: with minds on me, lives gone into me, awakening one another and speaking of me always, they are content and delight. Here "That" is the Self, Brahman, of which the last sarga said that it alone is what is seen. The commentary: those whose mind is ever fixed on the Self, whose whole business of living is the reaching of the Self, who make one another know the Self and grow glad, and who are filled with bliss in speaking of it. It cites the Upaniṣad: "one who abides in Brahman reaches immortality". The picture is of a company of seekers, not of a lone ascetic: they awaken one another, and their talk itself is a joy. Vasiṣṭha begins with them because Rāma has just been told that hearing this scripture frees; here is what such hearers become.