ह्यस्तनी दुष्क्रियाऽभ्येति शोभां सत्क्रियया यथा । अद्यैवं प्राक्तनी तस्माद्यत्नात्सत्कार्यवान्भवेत् ॥ ४ ॥
hyastanī duṣkriyā’bhyēti śōbhāṁ satkriyayā yathā | adyaivaṁ prāktanī tasmādyatnātsatkāryavānbhavēt || 4 ||
Translation
As yesterday's misdeed is made beautiful by a good deed, so today with the past one. So let a man work with care at good deeds.
Word by word
- hyastanī
- yesterday's
- duṣkriyā
- misdeed
- abhyēti
- is made
- śōbhāṁ
- beautiful
- satkriyayā
- by a good deed
- yathā
- as
- adya
- today
- ēvaṁ
- so
- prāktanī
- the past one
- tasmād
- (tasmāt) so
- yatnāt
- with care
- sat
- at good
- kāryavān
- let a man work
- bhavēt
- would
Meaning
The comparison of the two preceding sargas (2.6.5, 2.6.37) comes back, now with an exhortation attached: sat-kāryavān bhavet, "let him be one who does what is good". Having shown the snake to be a rope, Vasiṣṭha at once turns the reader back to work. That is typical of the teaching: the point of seeing through a false idea is what one then does. Why repeat the verse? Because it is the practical core of the whole matter. The arguments around it will be forgotten; "today can mend yesterday" can be remembered, and used tonight.