Text 39
śanaiḥ śanair jahuḥ paṅkaṁ
sthalāny āmaṁ ca vīrudhaḥ
yathāhaṁ-mamatāṁ dhīrāḥ
śarīrādiṣv anātmasu
śanaiḥ śanaiḥ — very gradually; jahuḥ — gave up; paṅkam — their mud; sthalāni — the places of land; āmam — their unripe condition; ca — and; vīrudhaḥ — the plants; yathā — as; aham-mamatām — egotism and possessiveness; dhīrāḥ — sober sages; śarīra-ādiṣu — focused upon the material body and other external objects; anātmasu — which are completely distinct from the real self.
Gradually the different areas of land gave up their muddy condition and the plants grew past their unripe stage, in the same way that sober sages give up egotism and possessiveness. These are based on things different from the real self, namely, the material body and its by-products.
The word ādiṣu in this verse indicates the by-products of the body, such as children, home and wealth.