न चाऽशकत्पुरो दृष्टमपि हस्तशतैर्द्विजम् । बलवानप्यवष्टब्धुं संकल्पपुरुषं यथा ॥ ८ ॥
na cā’śakatpurō dṛṣṭamapi hastaśatairdvijam | balavānapyavaṣṭabdhuṁ saṁkalpapuruṣaṁ yathā || 8 ||
Translation
And though he was before his eyes, he could not seize the brahmin even with a hundred hands, as a strong man cannot lay hold of a man made of imagining.
Word by word
- na
- not
- ca
- and
- aśakat
- he could
- purō
- (puraḥ) before his eyes
- dṛṣṭam
- seen
- api
- though
- hasta
- hands
- śatair
- (śataiḥ) with a hundred
- dvijam
- the brahmin
- balavān
- a strong man
- apy
- (api) even
- avaṣṭabdhuṁ
- to lay hold of
- saṁkalpa
- of imagining
- puruṣaṁ
- a man made
- yathā
- as
Meaning
The figure of the man made of imagining (saṅkalpa-puruṣa) is the key to the sarga, and it returns at its end (vv. 51, 54). A man one pictures in the mind stands there, with face and limbs, and no strength in the world can take him by the arm; there is nothing to take. The brahmin is not hidden and not defended; he is simply not the kind of thing a hand can close on. The commentary: as a strong man cannot touch a man formed by imagining, so Death, with hundreds of hands, could not seize the brahmin who stood before him.