Devanagari
यथाम्भसा प्रचलता तरवोऽपि चला इव ।
चक्षुषा भ्राम्यमाणेन दृश्यते चलतीव भू: ॥ २३ ॥
Verse text
yathāmbhasā pracalatā
taravo ’pi calā iva
cakṣuṣā bhrāmyamāṇena
dṛśyate calatīva bhūḥ
Synonyms
yathā
—
just as
;
ambhasā
—
by water
;
pracalatā
—
moving
;
taravaḥ
—
the trees (on the bank of the river)
;
api
—
also
;
calāḥ
—
moving
;
iva
—
as if
;
cakṣuṣā
—
by the eye
;
bhrāmyamāṇena
—
moving
;
dṛśyate
—
is seen
;
calatī
—
moving
;
iva
—
as if
;
bhūḥ
—
the ground .
Translation
Because of the movements of the water, the trees on the bank of a river, when reflected on the water, seem to move. Similarly, when the eyes move because of some mental derangement, the land appears to move also.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Because of the movements of the water, the trees on the bank of a river, when reflected on the water, seem to move. Similarly, when the eyes move because of some mental derangement, the land appears to move.
Since it accepts the subtle body, the ātmā is different from the subtle body. An example is given. The trees, reflected in water, seem to move because of moving water. The trees do no move, since they are different from the water. Similarly the qualities of the subtle body, lamentation and illusion, are falsely projected on the ātmā. Since the ātmā is different from the subtle body, lamentation and illusion do not belong to the ātmā. The attributes of the covering on the soul (subtle body) are projected on the ātmā. Having given that example, an example of the qualities of a sense being applied to the object perceived by the sense is given. Because of the rolling eye, the earth appears to move. The earth is caught by the defective eye, just like a man haunted by a ghost.
Purport
Sometimes, because of mental derangement, the land appears to be moving. A drunkard, for example, or a person with heart disease, sometimes feels that the land is moving. Similarly, the reflections of trees in a flowing river also appear to move. These are the actions of
māyā.
Actually the living entity does not move (
sthāṇur acalo ’yam
). The living entity does not take birth or accept death, but because of the transient subtle and gross bodies, the living entity appears to move from one place to another or be dead and gone forever. As the great Bengali Vaiṣṇava poet, Jagadānanda Paṇḍita, has said:
piśācī pāile yena mati-cchanna haya
māyā-grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya
According to this statement from the
Prema-vivarta,
when a living entity is conditioned by material nature, he is exactly like a person haunted by a ghost. One should therefore understand the fixed position of the spirit soul and how he is carried away by the waves of material nature to different bodies and different situations under lamentation and hankering. One achieves the success of life when he understands the constitutional position of his self and is undisturbed by the conditions created by material nature (
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
).