दैन्यदारिद्र्यदुःखार्त्ता अपि साधो नरोत्तमाः । पौरुषेणैव यत्नेन याता देवेन्द्रतुल्यताम् ॥ ८ ॥
dainyadāridryaduḥkhārttā api sādhō narōttamāḥ | pauruṣēṇaiva yatnēna yātā dēvēndratulyatām || 8 ||
Translation
Good sir, even the best of men, afflicted by want, poverty and pain, have come by effort alone to be equal to the lord of the gods.
Word by word
- dainya
- by want
- dāridrya
- poverty
- duḥkha
- and pain
- ārttā
- (ārtāḥ) afflicted
- api
- even
- sādhō
- good sir
- nara
- of men
- uttamāḥ
- the best
- pauruṣēṇa
- by effort
- ēva
- alone
- yatnēna
- by striving
- yātā
- (yātāḥ) have come
- dēva
- of the gods
- indra
- to the lord
- tulyatām
- to be equal
Meaning
From the teachers to people, and to those who began with nothing. The commentary names the witnesses: Hariścandra, Nala, Yudhiṣṭhira, whose stories are of loss and hardship and of what came after. Poverty is described by three words, want (dainya), lack (dāridrya) and pain (duḥkha), each one a real weight. The verse does not say that such people were not afflicted. It says that they came through, and came through "by effort alone". The reader who feels that circumstances have been too hard is not being scolded. He is being reminded of the company he is in.