पौरुषं स्पन्दफलवद् दृष्टं प्रत्यक्षतो न यत् । कल्पितं मोहितैर्मन्दैर्दैवं किञ्चिन्न विद्यते ॥ १० ॥
pauruṣaṁ spandaphalavad dṛṣṭaṁ pratyakṣatō na yat | kalpitaṁ mōhitairmandairdaivaṁ kiñcinna vidyatē || 10 ||
Translation
Effort is seen with one's own eyes to bear fruit in action; fate is not. Fate is an invention of the deluded and the dull: it does not exist at all.
Word by word
- pauruṣaṁ
- effort
- spanda
- in action
- phala
- fruit
- vad
- (vat) to bear
- dṛṣṭaṁ
- is seen
- pratyakṣatō
- (pratyakṣataḥ) with one's own eyes
- na
- not
- yat
- which
- kalpitaṁ
- an invention
- mōhitair
- (mohitaiḥ) of the deluded
- mandair
- (mandaiḥ) and the dull
- daivaṁ
- fate
- kiñcin
- (kiñcit) at all
- vidyatē
- does exist
Meaning
A bold claim. Effort plainly bears fruit: walking brings us somewhere, eating satisfies; this is seen directly (pratyakṣa). No one has ever seen fate (daiva). The commentary: it is a fancy, a tale made up by those confused by ignorance. Against the popular saying that "good works meet many obstacles", which seems to show fate defeating effort, Vasiṣṭha will argue in the following sargas that what we call fate is only effort, our own from the past or another's. The reader who has excused himself by "it was not meant to be" is being asked to look again.