तद्युक्तमेतदेतस्मिन्नाऽस्ति नाऽपवदामहे । मूढैः प्रकल्पितं दैवं मन्यन्ते ये क्षयं गताः ॥ ३६ ॥
tadyuktamētadētasminnā’sti nā’pavadāmahē | mūḍhaiḥ prakalpitaṁ daivaṁ manyantē yē kṣayaṁ gatāḥ || 36 ||
Translation
That is right, there is no doubt in this, and we do not deny it. But those who hold to the fate invented by fools have gone to ruin.
Word by word
- tad
- (tat) that
- yuktam
- is right
- ētad
- this
- ētasmin
- in this
- na
- no; not
- asti
- there is
- apavadāmahē
- we deny
- mūḍhaiḥ
- by fools
- prakalpitaṁ
- invented
- daivaṁ
- the fate
- manyantē
- hold to
- yē
- those who
- kṣayaṁ
- to ruin
- gatāḥ
- have gone
Meaning
The line is drawn with care. That past effort shapes the present: this is true, and Vasiṣṭha will not dispute it (na apavadāmahe, "we do not speak against it"). What he opposes is another thing, a "fate" made up by fools (mūḍhaiḥ prakalpitam): a power with a will of its own, on which one can lean. The commentary: we censure those who believe in the fate made up out of idle fancy, for they have come to ruin. Another commentary says that fools have imagined a fate apart from effort, and those who trust in it give up effort. It is a fine piece of fairness. The doctrine of karma is kept, and the use made of it by laziness is rejected. The test of a belief about karma, then, is simple: does it make a person more active in doing good, or less?