शुभेन पुरुषार्थेन शुभमासाद्यते फलम् । अशुभेनाऽशुभं राम यथेच्छसि तथा कुरु ॥ २० ॥
śubhēna puruṣārthēna śubhamāsādyatē phalam | aśubhēnā’śubhaṁ rāma yathēcchasi tathā kuru || 20 ||
Translation
By wholesome effort a wholesome fruit is reached, and by unwholesome an unwholesome. Rāma, do as you wish.
Word by word
- śubhēna
- by wholesome
- puruṣārthēna
- effort
- śubham
- a wholesome
- āsādyatē
- is reached
- phalam
- fruit
- aśubhēna
- by unwholesome
- aśubhaṁ
- an unwholesome
- rāma
- Rāma
- yathā
- as
- icchasi
- you wish
- tathā
- so
- kuru
- do
Meaning
The law is given in a line, then the teacher stands back. The closing words, yathā icchasi tathā kuru, "do as you wish", are those with which Kṛṣṇa ends his teaching to Arjuna in the Gītā. The echo is surely felt. A true teacher does not compel. Rāma has been told the facts about how action and fruit are bound, and the choice is his. In that freedom the whole sarga finds its point: one who is able to be told "do as you wish" is not a creature of fate. It would make no sense to say those words to a man who could only do what was decreed.