श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । अत एव हि राम त्वं श्रेयः प्राप्नोषि शाश्वतम् । स्वप्रयत्नोपनीतेन पौरुषेणैव नाऽन्यथा ॥ २४ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | ata ēva hi rāma tvaṁ śrēyaḥ prāpnōṣi śāśvatam | svaprayatnōpanītēna pauruṣēṇaiva nā’nyathā || 24 ||
Translation
Śrī Vasiṣṭha said: It is for this very reason, Rāma, that you gain the lasting good, by effort brought on by your own striving, and in no other way.
Word by word
- śrīvasiṣṭha
- Śrī Vasiṣṭha
- uvāca
- said
- ata
- (ataḥ) for this reason
- ēva
- very
- hi
- indeed
- rāma
- Rāma
- tvaṁ
- you
- śrēyaḥ
- the good
- prāpnōṣi
- gain
- śāśvatam
- lasting
- sva
- your own
- prayatna
- by striving
- upanītēna
- brought on
- pauruṣēṇa
- by effort
- na
- no
- anyathā
- other way
Meaning
A startling answer. Ataḥ eva: for this very reason. Rāma says "I am driven by my tendencies", and Vasiṣṭha replies "exactly so, and that is why you can win". The commentary explains the logic. You may not be free in the fruit that is arriving now, but you are free in the effort toward the fruit to come. And since the tendencies are yours, they are open to you. If they belonged to someone else they would not be. Rāma's despair, in other words, already contains its own cure. He sees the net, and whoever can see it is not wholly in it.