ये शूरा ये च विक्रान्ता ये प्राज्ञा ये च पण्डिताः । तैस्तैः किमिव लोकेऽस्मिन् वद दैवं प्रतीक्ष्यते ॥ १७ ॥
yē śūrā yē ca vikrāntā yē prājñā yē ca paṇḍitāḥ | taistaiḥ kimiva lōkē’smin vada daivaṁ pratīkṣyatē || 17 ||
Translation
Those who are heroes, those who are valiant, those who are wise and those who are learned: tell me, what is it in this world that they wait for from fate?
Word by word
- yē
- those who
- śūrā
- (śūrāḥ) are heroes
- ca
- and
- vikrāntā
- (vikrāntāḥ) are valiant
- prājñā
- (prājñāḥ) are wise
- paṇḍitāḥ
- are learned
- tais
- (taiḥ) by them
- kim
- what
- iva
- is it
- lōkē
- world
- asmin
- in this
- vada
- tell me
- daivaṁ
- from fate
- pratīkṣyatē
- they wait for
Meaning
A short, direct challenge, and the word vada, "tell me", brings Rāma into the argument. Run through those who get things done, the brave, the bold, the wise, the learned. The commentary asks in a friendly tone: come, say, do these people wait upon fate? The answer is no, and it shows the true sense of the word pratīkṣyate, "waited for". Waiting is what fate asks of us, and it is the one thing no heroic person has ever been known for. This does not mean that such people have no patience. Patience keeps working. Waiting has stopped.