महान्तो विभवास्वादैर्नानाश्चर्यसमाश्रयाः । पौरुषेणैव दोषेण नरकातिथितां गताः ॥ ९ ॥
mahāntō vibhavāsvādairnānāścaryasamāśrayāḥ | pauruṣēṇaiva dōṣēṇa narakātithitāṁ gatāḥ || 9 ||
Translation
And great men, resting amid countless wonders on their taste of splendour, have become guests of hell through a fault of their own effort alone.
Word by word
- mahāntō
- (mahāntaḥ) great men
- vibhava
- of splendour
- āsvādair
- (āsvādaiḥ) on their taste
- nānā
- countless
- āścarya
- wonders
- samāśrayāḥ
- resting amid
- pauruṣēṇa
- of effort
- ēva
- alone
- dōṣēṇa
- through a fault
- naraka
- of hell
- atithitāṁ
- guests
- gatāḥ
- have become
Meaning
The other side of the ledger. The commentary names Nahuṣa, who rose to the throne of heaven and fell by his own arrogance. Great height is no protection. The fine phrase narakātithi, "guest of hell", has a grim courtesy to it. And the cause is again one's own effort, this time misdirected: pauruṣa-doṣa, a fault in effort. So the sarga gives the rule both ways. It would be easy to say that merit raises and fate casts down, so that the good is ours and the bad is bad luck. Vasiṣṭha will not allow it. The same hands that climbed let go. In a life going well, this verse is the one to keep in mind.