यद्दैवं तानि कर्माणि कर्म साधो मनो हि तत् । मनो हि पुरुषस्तस्माद्दैवं नाऽस्तीति निश्चयः ॥ १८ ॥
yaddaivaṁ tāni karmāṇi karma sādhō manō hi tat | manō hi puruṣastasmāddaivaṁ nā’stīti niścayaḥ || 18 ||
Translation
That which is fate is those actions; action, good sir, is the mind; and the mind is the person. So it is settled that fate does not exist.
Word by word
- yad
- (yat) that which
- daivaṁ
- fate
- tāni
- those
- karmāṇi
- actions
- karma
- action
- sādhō
- good sir
- manō
- (manaḥ) the mind
- hi
- indeed
- tat
- that
- puruṣas
- (puruṣaḥ) the person
- tasmād
- (tasmāt) so
- na
- not
- asti
- does exist
- iti
- that
- niścayaḥ
- it is settled
Meaning
The conclusion. If every term reduces to the next, then fate has no place of its own. Another commentary takes a further step: the person in the highest state is changeless consciousness alone, so the mind is unreal, and with it action, and with that fate. Two levels are at work. On the level of practice, fate is your own mind and so you can work on it. On the level of ultimate truth, it never was. Both remove the same fear. Rāma's question is answered: the word has been wiped away not by denying the past but by showing whose it is.