आत्मानमनुशोच त्वं किमन्यमनुशोचसि।
आयुस्ते हीयते यस्य स्थितस्य च गतस्य च॥
ātmānam anuśoca tvaṁ kim anyam anuśocasi
āyus te hīyate yasya sthitasya ca gatasya ca
ātmānam = about Yourself; anuśoca = lament; tvam = You; kim = why do; anyam = about someone else; anuśocasi = lament; āyuḥ = lifespan; te = Your; hīyate = is taken away; yasya sthitasya ca = both while You are in one place; gatasya = while moving about; ca = and.
Lament about Yourself. Why do You lament about someone else? Your lifespan is taken away both while You are in one place and while moving about.
1 This life is a preparation for one’s next life because we cannot die while our bodies cannot perpetually live. This is the first lesson taught by Lord Kṛṣṇa in the Bhagavad-gītā. Just as we earn money this week or this month to spend it later, we should do what is required to benefit ourselves in our next life. Nobody drives a car while constantly looking at his steering wheel—he looks at the road in front of him, in fact several meters in front of him. Similarly, there is no point in simply being obsessed with the happenings of our current life while neglecting what is coming in our next life. And that is based on a clear set of principles called the laws of karma which are detailed in the Vedic scriptures. If one wants to get out of material existence, there is a procedure for that and there are laws governing the attainment of spiritual realization and liberation from material existence. All of this is also detailed in the Vedic scriptures. The Supreme Personality of Godhead has provided an organized set of procedures in the Vedic literature for the immature souls who want to enjoy in material existence and for the mature souls who want to get out of material existence. See Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.87.2 and Śrīla Baladeva Vidyābhūṣaṇa’s commentary to Bhagavad-gītā 2.45.
Rāma points out here who should be the object of lamentation. In the second line, Rāma intends to say, “Because Your lifespan is taken away, You should only think about Your afterlife.”
GLOSS. “Your lifespan is taken away” implies “Think, ‘What can I do to benefit Myself in My next life?’”1