तिर्यक्त्वं पुरुषा यान्ति तिर्यञ्चो नरतामपि । देवाश्चाऽदेवतां यान्ति किमिवेह विभो स्थिरम् ॥ १९ ॥
tiryaktvaṁ puruṣā yānti tiryañcō naratāmapi | dēvāścā’dēvatāṁ yānti kimivēha vibhō sthiram || 19 ||
Translation
Men become beasts, and beasts become men; gods become no gods: what here is steady, lord?
Word by word
- tiryaktvaṁ
- beasts
- puruṣā
- (puruṣāḥ) men
- yānti
- become
- tiryañcō
- (tiryañcaḥ) beasts
- naratām
- men
- api
- and
- dēvāś
- (devāḥ) gods
- ca
- and
- adēvatāṁ
- no gods
- kim
- what
- iva
- indeed
- iha
- here
- vibhō
- lord
- sthiram
- is steady
Meaning
The great wheel of births: humans fall to animal births, animals rise to human ones, gods lose their divinity. The commentary: tell me then, what in this world is fixed? The question is meant to be left unanswered, because the answer the teaching will give is not "a thing" at all.