कार्यसङ्कटसन्देहं राजा जानाति राघव । निष्फलं सफलं वाऽपि विचारेणैव नाऽन्यथा ॥ ३८ ॥
kāryasaṅkaṭasandēhaṁ rājā jānāti rāghava | niṣphalaṁ saphalaṁ vā’pi vicārēṇaiva nā’nyathā || 38 ||
Translation
A king knows the doubt in a pressing affair, Rāghava, whether it will bear fruit or not, through inquiry alone, and in no other way.
Word by word
- kārya
- in an affair
- saṅkaṭa
- pressing
- sandēhaṁ
- the doubt
- rājā
- a king
- jānāti
- knows
- rāghava
- Rāghava
- niṣphalaṁ
- not bear fruit
- saphalaṁ
- whether it will bear fruit
- vā
- or
- api
- also
- vicārēṇa
- through inquiry
- ēva
- alone
- na
- not
- anyathā
- in another way
Meaning
Vasiṣṭha speaks again to the future king. The commentaries name the decisions: alliance and war, and another commentary adds the rest of the six measures of statecraft, the march, the double policy and the seeking of shelter. Rāma will have to make such decisions, and he knows already that they are made by thinking them through. Vasiṣṭha asks him to use on his own life the faculty he will use on the kingdom.