Text 15
chidyamānaṁ yamair etaiḥ
kṛta-nīḍaṁ vanaspatim
khagaḥ sva-ketam utsṛjya
kṣemaṁ yāti hy alampaṭaḥ
chidyamānam — being cut down; yamaiḥ — by cruel men, who are like death personified; etaiḥ — by these; kṛta-nīḍam — in which he has constructed his nest; vanaspatim — a tree; khagaḥ — a bird; sva-ketam — his home; utsṛjya — giving up; kṣemam — happiness; yāti — achieves; hi — indeed; alampaṭaḥ — without attachment.
Without attachment, a bird gives up the tree in which his nest was constructed when that tree is cut down by cruel men who are like death personified, and thus the bird achieves happiness in another place.
Here the example is given of detachment from the bodily concept of life. The living entity resides within the body just as a bird dwells within a tree. When thoughtless men cut down the tree, the bird, without lamenting the loss of its previous nest, does not hesitate to establish its residence in another place.