Chapter 15: Adhyaya 15 — Discernment, Social Reciprocity, and the Contingency of Status

Verse 1

यस्य चित्तं द्रवीभूतं कृपया सर्वजन्तुषु । तस्य ज्ञानेन मोक्षेण किं जटाभस्मलेपनैः ॥

For one whose mind has softened with compassion toward all beings, there is knowledge and liberation already; what use are outward ascetic signs like matted hair and ash?

Verse 2

एकमप्यक्षरं यस्तु गुरुः शिष्यं प्रबोधयेत् । पृथिव्यां नास्ति तद्द्रव्यं यद्दत्त्वा सोऽनृणी भवेत् ॥

If a teacher awakens a student even to a single syllable, there is no wealth on earth that can be given to repay that debt in full.

Verse 3

खलानां कण्टकानां च द्विविधैव प्रतिक्रिया । उपानन्मुखभङ्गो वा दूरतो वा विसर्जनम् ॥

For the wicked and for thorns, the remedy is only twofold: either a direct counterblow, as with a shoe, or casting them off from a distance.

Verse 4

कुचैलिनं दन्तमलोपधारिणं बह्वाशिनं निष्ठुरभाषिणं च । सूर्योदये चास्तमिते शयानं विमुञ्चति श्रीर्यदि चक्रपाणिः ॥

Prosperity (Śrī), even if upheld by Viṣṇu the Cakrapāṇi, abandons one who wears filthy clothes, keeps dental grime, eats excessively, speaks harshly, and lies down at sunrise and at sunset.

Verse 5

त्यजन्ति मित्राणि धनैर्विहीनं पुत्राश्च दाराश्च सुहृज्जनाश्च । तमर्थवन्तं पुनराश्रयन्ति अर्थो हि लोके मनुष्यस्य बन्धुः ॥

Friends abandon the man who is without wealth; so do sons, wife, and well‑wishers. When he becomes prosperous again, they return to take shelter in him. In this world, wealth is a man’s true “kinsman.”

Verse 6

अन्यायोपार्जितं द्रव्यं दश वर्षाणि तिष्ठति । प्राप्ते चैकादशे वर्षे समूलं तद्विनश्यति ॥

Wealth gained through injustice lasts ten years; when the eleventh year arrives, it is destroyed utterly, root and all.

Verse 7

अयुक्तं स्वामिनो युक्तं युक्तं नीचस्य दूषणम् । अमृतं राहवे मृत्युर्विषं शङ्करभूषणम् ॥

What is improper for an ordinary man is deemed proper for a ruler; what is proper for the lowly is treated as a fault. Nectar is death to Rāhu, and poison an ornament to Śaṅkara (Śiva).

Verse 8

तद्भोजनं यद्द्विजभुक्तशेषं तत्सौहृदं यत्क्रियते परस्मिन् । सा प्राज्ञता या न करोति पापं दम्भं विना यः क्रियते स धर्मः ॥

“Proper food” is what remains after a dvija (the twice‑born) has eaten; “friendship” is what is done for another’s benefit. “Wisdom” is that which commits no wrong; “dharma” is action performed without hypocrisy.

Verse 9

मणिर्लुण्ठति पादाग्रे काचः शिरसि धार्यते । क्रयविक्रयवेलायां काचः काचो मणिर्मणिः ॥

A jewel rolls at the feet while glass is carried on the head; yet at the time of buying and selling, glass is glass and a jewel is a jewel.

Verse 10

अनन्तशास्त्रं बहुलाश्च विद्याः स्वल्पश्च कालो बहुविघ्नता च । यत्सारभूतं तदुपासनीयां हंसो यथा क्षीरमिवाम्बुमध्यात् ॥

Treatises are endless and branches of knowledge are many; time is little and obstacles are plenty. Therefore cultivate only the essence—like the haṃsa said to draw milk from the midst of water.

Verse 11

दूरागतं पथि श्रान्तं वृथा च गृहमागतम् । अनर्चयित्वा यो भुङ्क्ते स वै चाण्डाल उच्यते ॥

One who eats without first honoring a weary traveler who has come from afar and reached the house with no other refuge is called a “cāṇḍāla” in the text.

Verse 12

पठन्ति चतुरो वेदान्धर्मशास्त्राण्यनेकशः । आत्मानं नैव जानन्ति दर्वी पाकरसं यथा ॥

Some recite the four Vedas and repeatedly study Dharmaśāstra, yet they do not know the self—like a ladle that serves the cooked food but does not taste it.

Verse 13

धन्या द्विजमयी नौका विपरीता भवार्णवे । तरन्त्यधोगताः सर्वे उपरिष्ठाः पतन्त्यधः ॥

Blessed is the “boat made of the twice-born” when inverted upon the ocean of worldly existence: those underneath cross over, while those above fall down.

Verse 14

अयममृतनिधानं नायकोऽप्योषधीनाम् अमृतमयशरीरः कान्तियुक्तोऽपि चन्द्रः । भवतिविगतरश्मिर्मण्डलं प्राप्य भानोः परसदननिविष्टः को लघुत्वं न याति ॥

The moon is a store of nectar and lord of medicinal herbs; though its body seems deathless and its beauty shines, on reaching the sun’s orb it loses its rays. Dwelling in another’s domain—who does not suffer a fall in stature?

Verse 15

अलिरयं नलिनीदलमध्यगः कमलिनीमकरन्दमदालसः । विधिवशात्परदेशमुपागतः कुटजपुष्परसं बहु मन्यते ॥

A bee, languid with the intoxication of lotus nectar and resting amid the lotus petals, when driven by fate to a foreign land, comes to prize the juice of the kuṭaja flower as something great.

Verse 16

पीतः क्रुद्धेन तातश्चरणतलहतो वल्लभो येन रोषा दाबाल्याद्विप्रवर्यैः स्ववदनविवरे धार्यते वैरिणी मे । गेहं मे छेदयन्ति प्रतिदिवसमुमाकान्तपूजानिमित्तं तस्मात्खिन्ना सदाहं द्विजकुलनिलयं नाथ युक्तं त्यजामि ॥

I was made to drink; then my beloved, in anger, struck my father with the sole of his foot. My rival has been kept from childhood by eminent Brahmins, as if held “within the mouth’s opening.” My household is cut down day by day for the worship of Umākānta (Śiva). Therefore I am ever distressed; my lord, it is fitting that I abandon this dwelling tied to a Brahmin household.

Verse 17

बन्धनानि खलु सन्ति बहूनि प्रेमरज्जुकृतबन्धनमन्यत् । दारुभेदनिपुणोऽपि षडंघ्रि- र्निष्क्रियो भवति पंकजकोशेः ॥

Bonds are indeed many; yet the bond made by the rope of affection is of another kind. Even a six-footed creature skilled at boring wood becomes helpless when shut within the sheath of a lotus bud.

Verse 18

पतिर्नजहातिलीलाम् उअन्त्रार्पितोमघुग्तनिजहातिचेक्षुः क्षीणो पिनत्यजितशीलगुणान्कुलीनः ॥

The Sanskrit for this verse appears corrupted or incomplete, so a faithful translation isn’t possible. Please provide the correct text.

Verse 19

उर्व्यां कोऽपि महीधरो लघुतरो दोर्भ्यां धृतो लीलया तेन त्वं दिवि भूतले च सततं गोवर्धनो गीयसे। त्वां त्रैलोक्यधरं वहामि कुचयोरग्रे न तद्गण्यते किं वा केशव भाषणेन बहुना पुण्यैर्यशो लभ्यते ॥

On earth there was a certain mountain, small enough to be lifted playfully with two arms; therefore in heaven and on earth you are ever sung as “Govardhana.” Yet I bear you—the supporter of the three worlds—upon the forepart of my breasts, and it is not counted the same. Why speak so much of Keśava? Fame is won by meritorious deeds.