सारेण पुरुषार्थेन स्वेनैव गरुडध्वजः । कश्चिदेव पुमानेव पुरुषोत्तमतां गतः ॥ १५ ॥
sārēṇa puruṣārthēna svēnaiva garuḍadhvajaḥ | kaścidēva pumānēva puruṣōttamatāṁ gataḥ || 15 ||
Translation
By his own true effort, a certain man became the one with the Garuḍa banner and reached the state of the Highest Person.
Word by word
- sārēṇa
- true
- puruṣārthēna
- by effort
- svēna
- his own
- ēva
- indeed
- garuḍadhvajaḥ
- the one with the Garuḍa banner
- kaścid
- (kaścit) a certain
- pumān
- man
- puruṣōttamatāṁ
- the state of the Highest Person
- gataḥ
- reached
Meaning
Viṣṇu, whose banner bears Garuḍa, and who is called Puruṣottama, "the Highest Person", reached that state by his own essential effort (sāra puruṣārtha). The commentary: some person, by his own effort, became Garuḍa-bannered and attained the state of the Highest Person. The repetition of "a certain one" through these verses is deliberate: the gods were once someone, and anyone may become what they became.