दैवेन त्वभियुक्तोऽहं तत्करोमीदृशं स्थितम् । समाश्वासनवागेषा न दैवं परमार्थतः ॥ १५ ॥
daivēna tvabhiyuktō’haṁ tatkarōmīdṛśaṁ sthitam | samāśvāsanavāgēṣā na daivaṁ paramārthataḥ || 15 ||
Translation
"Set on by fate, I do what stands decided so": this is only talk for consolation. In the highest truth there is no fate.
Word by word
- daivēna
- by fate
- tv
- (tu) indeed
- abhiyuktō
- (abhiyuktaḥ) set on
- ahaṁ
- I
- tat
- that
- karōmi
- do
- īdṛśaṁ
- so
- sthitam
- what stands decided
- samāśvāsana
- for consolation
- vāg
- (vāk) talk
- ēṣā
- this is
- na
- no
- daivaṁ
- fate
- paramārthataḥ
- in the highest truth
Meaning
The words are the same in spirit as in 2.7.15. "I am only doing what was fated": this is samāśvāsana-vāk, a speech of comfort. The commentary: this sentence is a consolation only. Another commentary has it as said merely to give steadiness. The sentence shows up in two very different places. A soldier says it to get through a battle, and it may help him. But a person says it too to avoid blame, and then it is a lie. So this consolation needs watching. Paramārthataḥ, "in the highest truth", is a phrase of weight, and the verse uses it with care. It leaves ordinary talk to ordinary use and says only that this is not how things finally are.