Devanagari
उन्मत्तमत्तजडवत्स्वसंस्थां
गतस्य मे वीर चिकित्सितेन ।
अर्थ: कियान् भवता शिक्षितेन
स्तब्धप्रमत्तस्य च पिष्टपेष: ॥ १३ ॥
Verse text
unmatta-matta-jaḍavat sva-saṁsthāṁ
gatasya me vīra cikitsitena
arthaḥ kiyān bhavatā śikṣitena
stabdha-pramattasya ca piṣṭapeṣaḥ
Synonyms
unmatta
—
madness
;
matta
—
a drunkard
;
jaḍa
—
vat — like a dunce
;
sva
—
saṁsthām — situation in my original constitutional position
;
gatasya
—
of one who has obtained
;
me
—
of me
;
vīra
—
O King
;
cikitsitena
—
by your chastisement
;
arthaḥ
—
the meaning or purpose
;
kiyān
—
what
;
bhavatā
—
by you
;
śikṣitena
—
by being instructed
;
stabdha
—
dull
;
pramattasya
—
of a crazy man
;
ca
—
also
;
piṣṭa
—
peṣaḥ — like grinding flour .
Translation
My dear King, you have said, “You rascal, you dull, crazy fellow! I am going to chastise you, and then you will come to your senses.” In this regard, let me say that although I live like a dull, deaf and dumb man, I am actually a self-realized person. What will you gain by punishing me? If your calculation is true and I am a madman, then your punishment will be like beating a dead horse. There will be no effect. When a madman is punished, he is not cured of his madness.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O King! What purpose is served by punishing a person who has attained Brahman, but who acts like a madman or a dull person? What is accomplished by punishing a mad person?
You have said you will punish me for being inattentive. What do you hope to accomplish by verbally or physically punishing a person who is situated in Brahman (sva-saṁsthām), though he may appear to be mad, for liberated persons do not accept either what is useful or not useful? If I am not liberated but mad and dull (stabdha), by your punishment (śikṣitena) you are grinding what is already ground. Just as by pounding powder you do not recreate a solid object, but finer powder, by punishing the mad person one does not pacify madness, but one makes him more insane.
Purport
Everyone in this material world is working like a madman under certain impressions falsely acquired in the material condition. For example, a thief who knows that stealing is not good and who knows that it is followed with punishment by a king or by God, who has seen that thieves are arrested and punished by the police, nonetheless steals again and again. He is obsessed with the idea that by stealing he will be happy. This is a sign of madness. Despite repeated punishment, the thief cannot give up his stealing habit; therefore the punishment is useless.