कस्याञ्चित्स्वयमात्मदुःस्थितिवशात् पुंसो दशायां शनै- रङ्गुल्यग्रनिपीडितैकचुलुकादावापबिन्दुर्बहुः । कस्याञ्चिज्जलराशिपर्वतपुरद्वीपान्तरालीकृता भर्तव्योचितसंविभागकरणे पृथ्वी न पृथ्वी भवेत् ॥ २० ॥
kasyāñcitsvayamātmaduḥsthitivaśāt puṁsō daśāyāṁ śanai- raṅgulyagranipīḍitaikaculukādāvāpabindurbahuḥ | kasyāñcijjalarāśiparvatapuradvīpāntarālīkṛtā bhartavyōcitasaṁvibhāgakaraṇē pṛthvī na pṛthvī bhavēt || 20 ||
Translation
In one state, when a man is brought low by his own fault, a single drop that falls from a palmful squeezed between the fingertips seems a great deal; in another, when he divides among those he must support, the earth with all its seas, mountains, cities and continents seems not the earth at all.
Word by word
- kasyāñcit
- in one
- svayam
- his own
- ātma
- by himself
- duḥsthiti
- fault
- vaśāt
- by
- puṁsō
- (puṃsaḥ) of a man
- daśāyāṁ
- state
- śanair
- (śanaiḥ) slowly
- aṅguly
- (aṅguli) the fingers
- agra
- tips
- nipīḍita
- squeezed between
- ēka
- a single
- culukād
- (culukāt) from a palmful
- āvāpa
- that falls
- bindur
- (binduḥ) drop
- bahuḥ
- seems a great deal
- kasyāñcij
- (kasyāñcit) in another
- jala
- seas
- rāśi
- all its
- parvata
- mountains
- pura
- cities
- dvīpa
- and continents
- antarālīkṛtā
- with
- bhartavya
- those he must support
- ucita
- among
- saṁvibhāga
- division
- karaṇē
- when he makes
- pṛthvī
- the earth
- na
- not
- bhavēt
- seems
Meaning
The sarga ends in the śārdūlavikrīḍita metre with a contrast of two lives. One man, through his own bad state (ātma-duḥsthiti), is reduced to such need that a single drop of water from a cupped hand squeezed at the fingertips seems plenty. Another, rich through effort, divides the whole earth, oceans, mountains, cities and continents, among those he must support, and it seems small. The commentary: the one who neglects scriptural effort and keeps to wrong ways falls into sickness, bondage or poverty, until even a drop feels precious; the one who holds firm to right effort becomes like King Priyavrata, who ruled the seven continents and divided them among his sons, and does not think even the vast earth much. Both extremes are made by effort, one by its lack, one by its fullness. The reader is left to choose which drop or which earth he is working toward.