चक्षुषा भ्राम्यमाणेन दृश्यते चलतीव भू: ॥ २३ ॥
taravo 'pi calā iva
cakṣuṣā bhrāmyamāṇena
dṛśyate calatīva bhūḥ
māyā-grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya
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.
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:
māyā-grasta jīvera haya se bhāva udaya