कर्मणा तेन तेनैषा विस्तारमनुगच्छति । दोषाशीविषवेगस्य यत्क्षीरं विस्तरायते ॥ ७ ॥
karmaṇā tēna tēnaiṣā vistāramanugacchati | dōṣāśīviṣavēgasya yatkṣīraṁ vistarāyatē || 7 ||
Translation
She spreads by one deed after another, and each such deed is milk that makes the venom of the serpent of faults grow strong.
Word by word
- karmaṇā
- by deed
- tēna
- by this one and that (repeated)
- ēṣā
- she
- vistāram
- spreading
- anugacchati
- goes on
- dōṣa
- of faults
- āśīviṣa
- of the serpent
- vēgasya
- the venom
- yat
- which
- kṣīraṁ
- milk
- vistarāyatē
- makes grow strong
Meaning
What makes fortune grow? The commentary answers: war, gambling, trade, deeds whose fruit is wealth and power, and whose companions are greed, violence and falsehood. These deeds are "milk" (kṣīra) to a serpent: the old belief was that a snake fed on milk grows more venomous. So every act done for wealth feeds the faults in the one who does it. Sacrifice and giving, by contrast, make wealth smaller, because they spend it. The reader is shown an uncomfortable law: the acts that most increase fortune are often the acts that most increase what is worst in us.