द्वौ हुडाविव युध्येते पुरुषार्थौ समासमौ । आत्मीयश्चाऽन्यदीयश्च जयत्यतिबलस्तयोः ॥ ७ ॥
dvau huḍāviva yudhyētē puruṣārthau samāsamau | ātmīyaścā’nyadīyaśca jayatyatibalastayōḥ || 7 ||
Translation
Like two rams, two efforts fight, equal and unequal: one's own and another's. Of the two, the stronger wins.
Word by word
- dvau
- two
- huḍāv
- (huḍau) rams
- iva
- like
- yudhyētē
- fight
- puruṣārthau
- efforts
- samāsamau
- equal and unequal
- ātmīyaś
- (ātmīyaḥ) one's own
- ca
- and
- anyadīyaś
- (anyadīyaḥ) another's
- jayaty
- (jayati) wins
- atibalas
- (atibalaḥ) the stronger
- tayōḥ
- of the two
Meaning
The ram image again, now for a different pair: one's own effort and another's (anya-dīya). The commentary explains the occasion: scripture says men owe debts to the gods, and that the gods do not like men to gain knowledge of the Self, since men then stop sacrificing to them; so the gods may obstruct. Vasiṣṭha answers that this too is only effort against effort, and the stronger wins. Obstacles from outside, even from the gods, are other people's striving, and they lose their force when one's own effort masters one's faults. Nothing that opposes us is of a different kind from our own power.