विप्रा ऊचुः तपोजपयमैर्देवि समस्ताः सिद्धसिद्धयः । संप्राप्यन्तेऽमरत्वं तु न कदाचन लभ्यते ॥ २४ ॥
viprā ūcuḥ tapōjapayamairdēvi samastāḥ siddhasiddhayaḥ | saṁprāpyantē’maratvaṁ tu na kadācana labhyatē || 24 ||
Translation
The brahmins said: "By austerity, prayer and restraint, O queen, all the attainments of the perfected are won; but deathlessness is never gained."
Word by word
- tapō
- (tapaḥ) by austerity
- japa
- prayer
- yamair
- (yamaiḥ) and restraint
- dēvi
- O queen
- samastāḥ
- all
- siddha
- of the perfected
- siddhayaḥ
- the attainments
- saṁprāpyantē
- are won
- amaratvaṁ
- deathlessness
- tu
- but
- na
- not
- kadācana
- ever
- labhyatē
- is gained
Meaning
The commentary: the brahmins said, O queen, by austerity, recitation and the rules of yama and niyama the siddhas gain every power, but immortality is never gained. Their answer is the first statement of the sarga's theme: whatever is won within the world, the world's own law of death is not undone.