Devanagari
तरोर्बीजविपाकाभ्यां यो विद्वाञ्जन्मसंयमौ ।
तरोर्विलक्षणो द्रष्टा एवं द्रष्टा तनो: पृथक् ॥ ५० ॥
Verse text
taror bīja-vipākābhyāṁ
yo vidvāṣ janma-saṁyamau
taror vilakṣaṇo draṣṭā
evaṁ draṣṭā tanoḥ pṛthak
Synonyms
taroḥ
—
of a tree
;
bīja
—
(birth from) its seed
;
vipākābhyām
—
(destruction subsequent to) maturity
;
yaḥ
—
one who
;
vidvān
—
in knowledge
;
janma
—
of birth
;
saṁyamau
—
and death
;
taroḥ
—
from the tree
;
vilakṣaṇaḥ
—
distinct
;
draṣṭā
—
the witness
;
evam
—
in the same way
;
draṣṭā
—
the witness
;
tanoḥ
—
of the material body
;
pṛthak
—
is separate .
Translation
One who observes the birth of a tree from its seed and the ultimate death of the tree after maturity certainly remains a distinct observer separate from the tree. In the same way, the witness of the birth and death of the material body remains separate from it.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
One who observes the birth of a plant from its seed and the ultimate death of the tree after maturity certainly remains a distinct observer separate from the tree. In the same way, the witness of the birth and death of the material body remains separate from it.
This is made clear by an example. The word “tree” indicates any plant. One who knows birth and death by seeing the seed and the results in the form of harvested rice remains different from the body.
Purport
As a reference to trees,
vipāka
indicates the final transformation called death. In reference to other types of plants such as rice,
vipāka
indicates the stage of maturity, in which death also occurs. Thus by common observation one can understand the actual position of one’s material body and one’s own position as the transcendental observer.