Time, Dharma and Trust

Verse 1 (13.270.1)

कार्यते यच्च क्रियते सच्चासच्च कृताकृतम् । तत्राश्वसीत सत्कृत्वा असत्कृत्वा न विश्वसेत् ॥

kāryate yacca kriyate saccāsacca kṛtākṛtam | tatrāśvasīta satkṛtvā asatkṛtvā na viśvaset

Whatever is caused to be done and whatever is done, good or bad, done or left undone—in these, one may feel assured after doing good; after doing evil one should not feel secure.

Verse 2 (13.270.2)

काल एवान्तराशक्तिर्निग्रहानुग्रहौ ददत् । बुद्धिमाविश्य भूतानां धर्माधर्मौ प्रवर्तते ॥

kāla evāntarāśaktirnigrahānugrahau dadat | buddhimāviśya bhūtānāṃ dharmādharmau pravartate

Time itself is the hidden power within, granting both restraint and favour; entering the understanding of beings, it sets dharma and adharma in motion.

Verse 3 (13.270.3)

यदा त्वस्य भवेद्बुद्धिर्धर्मार्थस्य प्रदर्शनात् । तदाश्वसीत धर्मात्माऽदृढबुद्धिर्न विश्वसेत् ॥

yadā tvasya bhavedbuddhirdharmārthasya pradarśanāt | tadāśvasīta dharmātmā'dṛḍhabuddhirna viśvaset

When a man’s understanding becomes such, from seeing what dharma yields, then the righteous man should trust it; one of unsteady mind should not trust.

Note on the text: Corrected धर्मात्मा दृढबुद्धिर्न → धर्मात्माऽदृढबुद्धिर्न (misprint in Wikisource; the initial a- of adṛḍha-buddhi is lost, which reverses the sense; critical edition 13.150.3 reads dharmātmādṛḍhabuddhir na viśvaset, and the page’s own gloss reads अदृढबुद्धिस्तु न विश्वसेत्).

Verse 4 (13.270.4)

एतावन्मात्रमेतद्धि भूतानां प्राज्ञलक्षणम् । कालयुक्तोऽप्युभयविच्छेषं युक्तं समाचरेत् ॥

etāvanmātrametaddhi bhūtānāṃ prājñalakṣaṇam | kālayukto'pyubhayaviccheṣaṃ yuktaṃ samācaret

This much, indeed, is the mark of the wise among beings: though subject to time, he who knows both sides does what is fitting with what remains.

Verse 5 (13.270.5)

यथा ह्युपस्थितैश्वर्याः पूजयन्ति नरा जनान् । एवमेवात्मनाऽऽत्मानं पूजयन्तीह धार्मिकाः ॥

yathā hyupasthitaiśvaryāḥ pūjayanti narā janān | evamevātmanā''tmānaṃ pūjayantīha dhārmikāḥ

As men whose prosperity has arrived honour other people, in the same way the righteous in this world honour their own selves by themselves.

Verse 6 (13.270.6)

भावशुद्धिस्तु तपसा देवतानां च पूजया । सनातनेन शुद्ध्या च श्रुतदानजपैरपि । न ह्यशुद्धस्तु तां दद्याद्धर्मकाले कथञ्चन ॥

bhāvaśuddhistu tapasā devatānāṃ ca pūjayā | sanātanena śuddhyā ca śrutadānajapairapi | na hyaśuddhastu tāṃ dadyāddharmakāle kathañcana

Purity of the inner state comes through austerity and the worship of the gods, through lasting purification, and through learning, giving and recitation. One who is impure should never make that offering at the time for dharma.

Note on the text: Corrected मूजया → पूजया (misprint in Wikisource; critical edition *0690_01 reads pūjayā). Stray wiki marks (backtick, apostrophe) and the doubled verse-end mark removed. Lines 1–2 = CE star passage *0690 (13.150.005d*0690_01–02); line 3 (“न ह्यशुद्धस्तु …”) is not in the critical edition (vulgate only).

Verse 7 (13.270.7)

न ह्यधर्मतया धर्मं दद्यात्कालः कथञ्चन । तस्माद्विशुद्धमात्मानं जानीयाद्धर्मचारिणम् ॥

na hyadharmatayā dharmaṃ dadyātkālaḥ kathañcana | tasmādviśuddhamātmānaṃ jānīyāddharmacāriṇam

Time would never give dharma in the form of adharma. Therefore a man should know himself to be pure and a practiser of dharma.

Verse 8 (13.270.8)

स्प्रष्टुमप्यसमर्थो हि ज्वलन्तमिव पावकम् । अधर्मः सन्ततो धर्मं कालेन परिरक्षितम् ॥

spraṣṭumapyasamartho hi jvalantamiva pāvakam | adharmaḥ santato dharmaṃ kālena parirakṣitam

For adharma, however pervasive, cannot even touch dharma when it is guarded by time, as one cannot touch a blazing fire.

Verse 9 (13.270.9)

कार्यावेतौ हि धर्मेण धर्मो हि विजयावहः । त्रयाणामपि लोकानामालोकः कारणं भवेत् ॥

kāryāvetau hi dharmeṇa dharmo hi vijayāvahaḥ | trayāṇāmapi lokānāmālokaḥ kāraṇaṃ bhavet

These two are to be accomplished through dharma, for dharma brings victory; and for all three worlds it would be the source of light.

Note on the text: Corrected धर्मोणि → धर्मेण (misprint in Wikisource; not a valid form, and the page’s gloss “एतौ विशुद्धताऽधर्मास्पर्शौ” takes the two as results of dharma; the critical edition 13.150.8 has kālena here).

Verse 10 (13.270.10)

न तु कश्चिन्नयेत्प्राज्ञो गृहीत्वैव करे नरम् । ऊह्यमानस्तु धर्मेण प्राप्नुयात्परमच्युतम् । विश्वास एव कर्तव्यो बहुधर्मे शुभच्छले ॥

na tu kaścinnayetprājño gṛhītvaiva kare naram | ūhyamānastu dharmeṇa prāpnuyātparamacyutam | viśvāsa eva kartavyo bahudharme śubhacchale

No wise man leads another by taking him by the hand; but borne along by dharma, one reaches the highest, imperishable state. Trust alone is to be placed in dharma of many kinds, even where it wears a fair disguise.

Note on the text: CE mapping: lines 1–2 = CE 13.150.9a, c (line 2 with the CE star line 13.150.009c*0691_01); line 3 is a vulgate variant of 9c / *0691_02. The CE then continues with Appendix I No. 20 (the Bahula and tiger story, 13.150.009d@020_0000–0459), which this page does not carry.

Verse 11 (13.270.11)

शूद्रोऽहं नाधिकारो मे चातुराश्रम्यसेवने । इति विज्ञानमपरे नात्मन्युपदधत्युत ॥

śūdro'haṃ nādhikāro me cāturāśramyasevane | iti vijñānamapare nātmanyupadadhatyuta

“I am a Shudra; I have no right to the practice of the four stages of life”—such a notion, others do not take upon themselves.

Note on the text: Not in the main text of the critical edition: CE star passage *0692 (13.150.009d*0692_01–02).

Verse 12 (13.270.12)

विशेषेण च वक्ष्यामि चातुर्वर्ण्यस्य लिङ्गतः । पञ्चभूतशरीराणां सर्वेषां सदृशात्मनाम् ॥

viśeṣeṇa ca vakṣyāmi cāturvarṇyasya liṅgataḥ | pañcabhūtaśarīrāṇāṃ sarveṣāṃ sadṛśātmanām

And I shall speak in particular, from the marks of the four castes, of all those whose bodies are made of the five elements and whose selves are alike.

Note on the text: Not in the main text of the critical edition: CE star passage *0692 (13.150.009d*0692_03–04).

Verse 13 (13.270.13)

लोकधर्मे च धर्मे च विशेषकरणं कृतम् । यथैकत्वं पुनर्यान्ति प्राणिनस्तत्र विस्तरः ॥

lokadharme ca dharme ca viśeṣakaraṇaṃ kṛtam | yathaikatvaṃ punaryānti prāṇinastatra vistaraḥ

A distinction has been drawn between worldly custom and dharma; as to how beings return again to oneness, on that there is much to say.

Note on the text: Not in the main text of the critical edition: CE star passage *0692 (13.150.009d*0692_05–06).

Verse 14 (13.270.14)

अध्रुवो हि कथं लोकः स्मृतो धर्मः कथं ध्रुवः । यत्र कालो ध्रुवस्तात तत्र धर्मः सनातनः ॥

adhruvo hi kathaṃ lokaḥ smṛto dharmaḥ kathaṃ dhruvaḥ | yatra kālo dhruvastāta tatra dharmaḥ sanātanaḥ

How can the world be held to be impermanent when dharma is permanent? Where time is fixed, my son, there dharma is eternal.

Note on the text: Not in the main text of the critical edition: CE star passage *0692 (13.150.009d*0692_07–08).

Verse 15 (13.270.15)

सर्वेषां तुल्यदेहानां सर्वेषां सदृशात्मनाम् । कालो धर्मेण संयुक्तः शेष एव स्वयं गुरुः ॥

sarveṣāṃ tulyadehānāṃ sarveṣāṃ sadṛśātmanām | kālo dharmeṇa saṃyuktaḥ śeṣa eva svayaṃ guruḥ

For all who have like bodies and like selves, Time is joined with dharma; what remains is itself the teacher.

Note on the text: Not in the main text of the critical edition: CE star passage *0692 (13.150.009d*0692_09–10; the CE has “susaṃgrahaḥ” where the page has “स्वयं गुरुः”).

Verse 16 (13.270.16)

एवं सति न दोषोऽस्ति भूतानां धर्मसेवने । तिर्यग्योनावपि सतां लोक एव मतो गुरुः ॥

evaṃ sati na doṣo'sti bhūtānāṃ dharmasevane | tiryagyonāvapi satāṃ loka eva mato guruḥ

That being so, there is no fault for beings in following dharma; even in animal births, for the good, the world itself is held to be the teacher.

Note on the text: Not in the main text of the critical edition: CE star passage *0692 (13.150.009d*0692_11–12). The CE then has star passage *0693 (13.150.009d*0693_01–03), whose text the vulgate prints at the end of the next adhyaya (271).