यो यो यथा प्रयतते स स तत्तत्फलैकभाक् । न तु तूष्णीं स्थितेनेह केनचित्प्राप्यते फलम् ॥ १९ ॥
yō yō yathā prayatatē sa sa tattatphalaikabhāk | na tu tūṣṇīṁ sthitēnēha kēnacitprāpyatē phalam || 19 ||
Translation
Each one, as he strives, gets that fruit and only that. No one here who sits silent gains any fruit.
Word by word
- yō
- (yaḥ) each one
- yathā
- as
- prayatatē
- he strives
- sa
- (saḥ) he
- tattat
- that
- phala
- fruit
- ēka
- only
- bhāk
- gets
- na
- no
- tu
- and
- tūṣṇīṁ
- silent
- sthitēna
- who sits
- iha
- here
- kēnacit
- one
- prāpyatē
- gains
- phalam
- any fruit
Meaning
The repeated words carry the meaning, "he who, he who" (yo yo) and "that one, that one" (sa sa), and "that and that" fruit (tat tat): each to each, exactly. Phala-eka-bhāk says that one receives that fruit alone. So even the disappointments have their sense: the student who worked for marks and got marks did not thereby get learning. We often complain of not receiving a fruit that we did not in fact work for, having worked for another. It may be useful to ask of a dissatisfaction what, exactly, one has been striving for all this while. The second line closes the other door: to sit silent (tūṣṇīṁ) brings nothing at all.