Devanagari
अर्थाभावं विनिश्चित्य प्रतीतस्यापि नात्मन: ।
तां चापि युष्मच्चरणसेवयाहं पराणुदे ॥ १८ ॥
Verse text
arthābhāvaṁ viniścitya
pratītasyāpi nātmanaḥ
tāṁ cāpi yuṣmac-caraṇa-
sevayāhaṁ parāṇude
Synonyms
artha
—
abhāvam — without substance
;
viniścitya
—
being ascertained
;
pratītasya
—
of the apparent values
;
api
—
also
;
na
—
never
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of the self
;
tām
—
that
;
ca
—
also
;
api
—
thus
;
yuṣmat
—
your
;
caraṇa
—
feet
;
sevayā
—
by service
;
aham
—
myself
;
parāṇude
—
shall be able to give up .
Translation
But, my dear sir, I am obliged to you because now I can understand that this material manifestation is without substance, although it appears real. I am confident that by serving your feet it will be possible for me to give up the false idea.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Convinced that the jīva does not actually suffer loss of knowledge, but not yet realizing it directly, I will destroy this lack of this realization by service to your lotus feet.
At this very moment my suffering has come to an end. I have become convinced by the conclusions coming from your mouth that the soul has no actual misfortune (arthābhāvam). Though not perceiving this fact (na partītasya api), I will destroy (parānude) my lack of perception (tām) by service to your lotus feet.
Purport
The sufferings of the conditioned soul are superficial and have no intrinsic value, like the cutting off of one’s head in a dream. Yet although this statement is theoretically very true, it is very difficult for the common man or the neophyte on the transcendental path to realize practically. However, by serving the feet of great transcendentalists like Maitreya Muni and by constantly associating with them, one is enabled to give up the false idea that the soul suffers from material pangs.