तद्धैतत्सत्यकामो जाबालो गोश्रुतये वैयाघ्रपद्यायोक्त्वोवाच यद्यप्येनच्छुष्काय स्थाणवे ब्रूयाज्जायेरन्नेवास्मिञ्छाखाः प्ररोहेयुः पलाशानीति ॥ ५.२.३ ॥
taddhaitatsatyakāmo jābālo gośrutaye vaiyāghrapadyāyoktvovāca yadyapyenacchuṣkāya sthāṇave brūyājjāyerannevāsmiñchākhāḥ praroheyuḥ palāśānīti || 5.2.3 ||
3. Having told this to Vyāghrapada’s son Gośruti, Satyakāma Jābāla said, ‘If a person tells this even to a dry stump [of a tree], branches and leaves will grow off it’.
Word-for-word explanation:
Tat ha etat, this [teaching]; satyakāmaḥ jābālaḥ, Satyakāma Jābāla; gośrutaye vaiyāhrapadyāya uktva, saying to Vyāghrapada’s son Gośruti; uvāca, he said; yadi api, even if; etat, this [teaching]; śuṣkāya athāṇave brūyāt, a person gives to a dry stump; śākhāḥ praroheyuḥ palāśān, branches and leaves; jāyeran eva asmin, will grow off it.
Commentary:
This verse is meant to praise the philosophy of prāṇa. Teaching this philosophy to Gośruti, the son of Vyāghrapada, Satyakāma said that this teaching is capable of restoring life to a dead tree. Even if there is only a dry stump of a tree, leaves and branches will begin to sprout from it on hearing this teaching. Imagine then what effect it will produce if it is taught to a living human being.