यथाशास्त्रमनुच्छिन्नां मर्यादां स्वामनुज्झतः । उपतिष्ठन्ति सर्वाणि रत्नान्यम्बुनिधाविव ॥ ३१ ॥
yathāśāstramanucchinnāṁ maryādāṁ svāmanujjhataḥ | upatiṣṭhanti sarvāṇi ratnānyambunidhāviva || 31 ||
Translation
To one who does not abandon his own limit, kept unbroken as scripture directs, all things come of themselves, as all jewels are found in the ocean.
Word by word
- yathāśāstram
- as scripture directs
- anucchinnāṁ
- kept unbroken
- maryādāṁ
- limit
- svām
- his own
- anujjhataḥ
- to one who does not abandon
- upatiṣṭhanti
- come of themselves
- sarvāṇi
- all
- ratnāny
- (ratnāni) jewels
- ambunidhāv
- (ambunidhau) in the ocean
- iva
- as
Meaning
An image with a double edge. The ocean keeps its shore (maryādā, the word means both boundary and the bound of right conduct), and it is in the ocean that jewels gather. So the one who does not cross his own line finds that everything comes to him (upatiṣṭhanti). The commentary: to the one who does not leave his own unbroken limit, according to scripture, all that is wanted comes, as jewels are had in the sea. It runs against a common belief. We tend to think that the prizes of life go to those who break limits. This verse holds that a settled, self-contained life draws things to itself, and that those who overflow their shores wreck what they meant to gain. Restraint here is not a price. It is the condition of being full.