Deeds Follow the Doer

Verse 1 (12.179.1)

यद्यस्ति दत्तमिष्टं वा तपस्तप्तं तथैव च । गुरूणां वाऽपि शुश्रूषा तन्मे ब्रूहि पितामह ॥

yadyasti dattamiṣṭaṃ vā tapastaptaṃ tathaiva ca | gurūṇāṃ vā'pi śuśrūṣā tanme brūhi pitāmaha

If what is given, what is sacrificed, austerity performed, and service to one's elders bear fruit, tell me of it, grandfather.

Verse 2 (12.179.2)

यथाऽस्मिंश्च तथा तत्र जानीयां नृपसत्तम । दुष्कर्तारो यथा लोके यत्कुर्वन्ति तथा शृणु ॥

yathā'smiṃśca tathā tatra jānīyāṃ nṛpasattama | duṣkartāro yathā loke yatkurvanti tathā śṛṇu

As it is in this world, so it is there, O best of kings; that is how it should be understood. Hear now what evildoers do in the world.

Note on the text: Removed the backtick and the closing quote mark Wikisource prints around this verse (and the doubled daṇḍa inside it). Not matched by the alignment: both lines are the CE star passage 12.174.1d*0480_01-02 (yathāsmiṃś ca tathā tatra jānīyāṃ nṛpasattama / duṣkartāro yathā loke yat kurvanti tathā śṛṇu), which the CE prints after 12.174.1.

Verse 3 (12.179.3)

आत्मनाऽनर्थयुक्तेन पापे निविशते मनः । स्वकर्म कलुषं कृत्वा दुःखे महति धीयते ॥

ātmanā'narthayuktena pāpe niviśate manaḥ | svakarma kaluṣaṃ kṛtvā duḥkhe mahati dhīyate

When a man's mind is joined to what harms himself, it enters into sin; having done foul deeds of his own, he is sunk in great suffering.

Note on the text: Line 2 differs from the CE (sa karma kaluṣaṃ kṛtvā kleśe mahati dhīyate); Wikisource reads स्वकर्म कलुषं कृत्वा दुःखे महति धीयते, a recension variant, kept.

Verse 4 (12.179.4)

दुर्भिक्षादेव दुर्भिक्षं क्लेशात्क्लेशं भयाद्भयम् । मृतेभ्यः प्रमृता यान्ति दरिद्राः पापकारिणः ॥

durbhikṣādeva durbhikṣaṃ kleśātkleśaṃ bhayādbhayam | mṛtebhyaḥ pramṛtā yānti daridrāḥ pāpakāriṇaḥ

From famine into famine, from affliction into affliction, from fear into fear: the poor who do evil pass from one death to another.

Verse 5 (12.179.5)

उत्सवादुत्सवं यान्ति स्वर्गात्स्वर्गं सुखात्सुखम् । श्रद्दधानाश्च दान्ताश्च सत्वस्थाः शुभकारिणः ॥

utsavādutsavaṃ yānti svargātsvargaṃ sukhātsukham | śraddadhānāśca dāntāśca satvasthāḥ śubhakāriṇaḥ

From festival to festival they go, from heaven to heaven, from joy to joy: those who have faith and self-control, who are established in goodness and do good deeds.

Note on the text: Corrected शुभकारिणाः → शुभकारिणः (misprint in Wikisource; ा for the short vowel; CE śubhakāriṇaḥ). Wikisource's सत्वस्थाः against CE dhanāḍhyāḥ is a recension variant, kept (the page's own footnote cites धनाढ्याः as a झ. reading).

Verse 6 (12.179.6)

व्यालकुञ्जरदुर्गेषु सर्पचोरभयेषु च । हस्तावापेन गच्छन्ति नास्तिकाः किमतः परम् ॥

vyālakuñjaradurgeṣu sarpacorabhayeṣu ca | hastāvāpena gacchanti nāstikāḥ kimataḥ param

Into hard places full of vicious beasts and elephants, into dangers from snakes and thieves, unbelievers go in hand-fetters. What could be worse than that?

Verse 7 (12.179.7)

प्रियदेवातिथेयाश्च वदान्याः प्रियसाधवः । क्षेम्यमात्मवतां मार्गमास्थिता हस्तदक्षिणम् ॥

priyadevātitheyāśca vadānyāḥ priyasādhavaḥ | kṣemyamātmavatāṃ mārgamāsthitā hastadakṣiṇam

Those who love the gods and welcome guests, who are generous and fond of good men, have taken the safe path of the self-controlled, made auspicious by the giving of the hand.

Verse 8 (12.179.8)

पुलाका इव धान्येषु पुत्तिका इव पक्षिषु । तद्विधास्ते मनुष्येषु येषां धर्मो न कारणम् ॥

pulākā iva dhānyeṣu puttikā iva pakṣiṣu | tadvidhāste manuṣyeṣu yeṣāṃ dharmo na kāraṇam

Such people among men, for whom dharma is no motive, are like empty husks among grain and like gnats among birds.

Verse 9 (12.179.9)

सुशीघ्रमपि धावन्तं विधानमनुधावति । शेते सह शयानेन येनयेन यथाकृतम् ॥

suśīghramapi dhāvantaṃ vidhānamanudhāvati | śete saha śayānena yenayena yathākṛtam

Destiny runs after even a man who runs very swiftly; it lies down with the one who lies down, according to whatever each has done.

Verse 10 (12.179.10)

उपतिष्ठति तिष्ठन्तं गच्छन्तमनुगच्छति । करोति कुर्वतः कर्म छायेवाऽनुविधीयते ॥

upatiṣṭhati tiṣṭhantaṃ gacchantamanugacchati | karoti kurvataḥ karma chāyevā'nuvidhīyate

It stands by him when he stands and follows him when he goes; it acts when he acts, following him like a shadow.

Verse 11 (12.179.11)

येनयेन यथा यद्यत्पुरा कर्म समार्जितम् । तत्तदेव नरो भुङ्क्ते नित्यं विहितमात्मना ॥

yenayena yathā yadyatpurā karma samārjitam | tattadeva naro bhuṅkte nityaṃ vihitamātmanā

Whatever deed a man has earned in the past, by whatever means and in whatever way, that very thing he always enjoys, as ordained by himself.

Verse 12 (12.179.12)

स्वकर्मफलनिक्षेपं विधानपरिरक्षितम् । भूतग्राममिमं कालः समन्तात्परिकर्षति ॥

svakarmaphalanikṣepaṃ vidhānaparirakṣitam | bhūtagrāmamimaṃ kālaḥ samantātparikarṣati

Time drags this whole host of beings in every direction, each with the fruit of its own deeds laid up in it, guarded by the ordering of fate.

Verse 13 (12.179.13)

अचोद्यमानानि यथा पुष्पाणि च फलानि च । स्वं कालं नातिवर्तन्ते तथा कर्म पुराकृतम् ॥

acodyamānāni yathā puṣpāṇi ca phalāni ca | svaṃ kālaṃ nātivartante tathā karma purākṛtam

As flowers and fruits, though not urged, do not pass beyond their own time, so too the deeds done in the past.

Verse 14 (12.179.14)

संमानश्चावमानश्च लाभालाभौ क्षयोदयौ । प्रवृत्तानि विवर्तन्ते विधानान्ते पुनःपुनः ॥

saṃmānaścāvamānaśca lābhālābhau kṣayodayau | pravṛttāni vivartante vidhānānte punaḥpunaḥ

Honour and dishonour, gain and loss, rise and decline: once begun, they turn back again and again when the ordained term ends.

Note on the text: Corrected विद्यानान्ते → विधानान्ते (misprint in Wikisource; द्य for ध, the word is विधान as in verses 9 and 12; CE vidhānānte). प्रवृत्तानि against CE pravṛttā is a variant, kept.

Verse 15 (12.179.15)

आत्मना विहितं दुःखमात्मना विहितं सुखम् । गर्भशय्यामुपादाय भुज्यते पौर्वदेहिकम् ॥

ātmanā vihitaṃ duḥkhamātmanā vihitaṃ sukham | garbhaśayyāmupādāya bhujyate paurvadehikam

Suffering is of one's own making and happiness is of one's own making; from the time of entering the womb, what was made in a former body is enjoyed.

Verse 16 (12.179.16)

बालो युवा च वृद्धश्च यत्करोति शुभाशुभम् । तस्यांतस्यामवस्थायां भुङ्क्ते जन्मनिजन्मनि ॥

bālo yuvā ca vṛddhaśca yatkaroti śubhāśubham | tasyāṃtasyāmavasthāyāṃ bhuṅkte janmanijanmani

Whatever good or evil a boy, a youth or an old man does, he enjoys the result in that very stage of life, birth after birth.

Verse 17 (12.179.17)

यथा धेनुसहस्रेषु वत्सो विन्दति मातरम् । तथा पूर्वकृतं कर्म कर्तारमनुगच्छति ॥

yathā dhenusahasreṣu vatso vindati mātaram | tathā pūrvakṛtaṃ karma kartāramanugacchati

As among a thousand cows a calf finds its mother, so a deed done earlier follows the doer.

Verse 18 (12.179.18)

संक्लिन्नमग्रतो वस्त्रं पश्चाच्छुध्यति वारिणा । दुष्कर्मापि तथा पश्चात्पूयते पुण्यकर्मणा ॥

saṃklinnamagrato vastraṃ paścācchudhyati vāriṇā | duṣkarmāpi tathā paścātpūyate puṇyakarmaṇā

A cloth that is soiled at first is cleaned afterwards with water; so too one who has done wrong is purified afterwards by pious deeds.

Note on the text: Removed the backtick Wikisource prints before line 2 (it opens a quotation that closes in verse 19). Line 1 = CE 12.174.17a (samunnam agrato vastraṃ paścāc chudhyati karmaṇā; Wikisource संक्लिन्नम् and वारिणा are variants, kept; the alignment found no match); line 2 = the CE star line 12.174.17b*0481_01 (duṣkarmāpi tathā paścāt pūyate puṇyakarmaṇā).

Verse 19 (12.179.19)

तपसा तप्यते देहस्तपसा विन्दते महत् । उपवासैः प्रतप्तानां दीर्घं सुखमनन्तरम् ॥

tapasā tapyate dehastapasā vindate mahat | upavāsaiḥ prataptānāṃ dīrghaṃ sukhamanantaram

The body is heated by austerity, and by austerity one gains greatness; for those tempered by fasting, long happiness follows.

Note on the text: Removed the closing quote mark and the doubled daṇḍa Wikisource prints after line 1 (the quotation opened in verse 18). Line 1 = the CE star line 12.174.17b*0481_02 (tapasā tapyate dehas tapasā vindate mahat); line 2 = CE 12.174.17c (upavāsaiḥ prataptānāṃ dīrghaṃ sukham anantakam; Wikisource अनन्तरम् for anantakam, a variant, kept). The alignment found no match.

Verse 20 (12.179.20)

दीर्घकालेन तपसा सेवितेन तपोवने । धर्मनिर्धूतपापानां संसिद्ध्यन्ते मनोरथाः ॥

dīrghakālena tapasā sevitena tapovane | dharmanirdhūtapāpānāṃ saṃsiddhyante manorathāḥ

By austerity long practised in the penance-grove, the wishes of those whose sins have been shaken off by dharma are fulfilled.

Verse 21 (12.179.21)

शकुनीनामिवाकाशे मत्स्यानामिव चोदके । पदं यथा न दृश्येत तथा धर्मविदां गतिः ॥

śakunīnāmivākāśe matsyānāmiva codake | padaṃ yathā na dṛśyeta tathā dharmavidāṃ gatiḥ

As the track of birds in the sky or of fish in water cannot be seen, so is the course of those who know dharma.

Note on the text: Wikisource's धर्मविदां against CE jñānavidāṃ is a recension variant, kept.

Verse 22 (12.179.22)

अलमन्यैरुपालम्भैः कीर्तितैश्च व्यतिक्रमैः । पेशलं चानुरूपं च कर्तव्यं हितमात्मनः ॥

alamanyairupālambhaiḥ kīrtitaiśca vyatikramaiḥ | peśalaṃ cānurūpaṃ ca kartavyaṃ hitamātmanaḥ

Enough of other reproaches and of recounting transgressions; what should be done is what is fine and fitting and good for oneself.