द्वयोरद्यतनस्यैव प्रत्यक्षाद् बलिता भवेत् । दैवं जेतुं यतो यत्नैर्बालो यूनेव शक्यते ॥ १९ ॥
dvayōradyatanasyaiva pratyakṣād balitā bhavēt | daivaṁ jētuṁ yatō yatnairbālō yūnēva śakyatē || 19 ||
Translation
Of the two, only the present's strength is evident; for by efforts fate can be overcome, as a child by a youth.
Word by word
- dvayōr
- (dvayoḥ) of the two
- adyatanasya
- the present's
- ēva
- only
- pratyakṣād
- (pratyakṣāt) evident
- balitā
- strength
- bhavēt
- is
- daivaṁ
- fate
- jētuṁ
- to overcome
- yatō
- (yataḥ) for
- yatnair
- (yatnaiḥ) by efforts
- bālō
- (bālaḥ) a child
- yūnā
- by a youth
- iva
- as
- śakyatē
- can be
Meaning
A further reason to back the present. Of the two fighters, one can be seen (pratyakṣa). Past action is only inferred from its fruits; the present is the one thing whose strength we can directly feel and use. The verse returns to the picture of verse 4, now with "a youth" (yuvan) in place of "a strong man". The commentary: of the two, the effort of this life is manifestly the stronger. The word yatnaiḥ, "by efforts", is plural. No single heroic push is meant, but repeated attempts. To stake everything on the invisible against the visible is, on any reckoning, bad judgement: the only ground one can actually stand on is this day.