भिक्षुको मङ्गलेभेन नृपो यत्क्रियते क्वचित् । प्राक्तनं पौरुषं तत्र बलवद्वाऽपि कारणम् ॥ १७ ॥
bhikṣukō maṅgalēbhēna nṛpō yatkriyatē kvacit | prāktanaṁ pauruṣaṁ tatra balavadvā’pi kāraṇam || 17 ||
Translation
Or, where a beggar is in some place made king by the auspicious elephant, his own past effort, being strong, may also be the cause there.
Word by word
- bhikṣukō
- (bhikṣukaḥ) a beggar
- maṅgala
- auspicious
- ibhēna
- by the elephant
- nṛpō
- (nṛpaḥ) king
- yat
- where
- kriyatē
- is made
- kvacit
- in some place
- prāktanaṁ
- past
- pauruṣaṁ
- effort
- tatra
- there
- balavad
- (balavat) being strong
- vā
- or
- api
- also
- kāraṇam
- the cause
Meaning
An objection is expected, and the commentary states it: if the fruit goes to one man from the effort of others, the rule that each reaps his own effort has been broken. Why should a beggar be crowned by what ministers did? So Vasiṣṭha completes the account. The beggar's own effort from before, being strong, is a cause as well. Both are true together: the ministers' effort is the means, and his own past effort is why that means came to him and to no other. Nothing is handed out without having been earned somewhere. What we call a stroke of luck may be the arrival, by other hands, of what was long ago set moving by one's own.