दैवं संप्रेरयति मामिति दग्धधियां मुखम् । अदृष्टश्रेष्ठदृष्टीनां दृष्ट्वा लक्ष्मीर्निवर्तते ॥ २० ॥
daivaṁ saṁprērayati māmiti dagdhadhiyāṁ mukham | adṛṣṭaśrēṣṭhadṛṣṭīnāṁ dṛṣṭvā lakṣmīrnivartatē || 20 ||
Translation
"Fate drives me": seeing the faces of the burnt-minded who say this, who have never seen the vision of the best, Fortune turns away.
Word by word
- daivaṁ
- fate
- saṁprērayati
- drives
- mām
- me
- iti
- thus
- dagdha
- burnt
- dhiyāṁ
- of the -minded
- mukham
- the faces
- adṛṣṭa
- who have never seen
- śrēṣṭha
- of the best
- dṛṣṭīnāṁ
- the vision
- dṛṣṭvā
- seeing
- lakṣmīr
- (lakṣmīḥ) Fortune
- nivartatē
- turns away
Meaning
Lakṣmī, the goddess of fortune, turns away when she sees the faces of those who say "fate drives me". They are "burnt-minded" (dagdha-dhī) and have never seen the example of the best (adṛṣṭa-śreṣṭha-dṛṣṭi); the commentary names Viśvāmitra, who by effort alone rose from king to brahmin sage. The verse has a light touch, but it says something true. Fatalism is not only false; it repels good fortune, because it stops the effort through which fortune comes.