yadi hy ahaṃ na varteyaṃ jātu karmaṇy atandritaḥ
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ
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he pārtha (O son of Pṛthā!),
yadi (if) aham (I) jātu (once) atandritaḥ [
san]
(being free from laziness) karmaṇi (in activity) na varteyam (I would not engage).
manuṣyāḥ hi (indeed people) sarvaśaḥ (completely) mama (my) vartma (path) anuvartante (they follow).
| yadi |
– |
av. – if (correlative of: tarhi); |
| hi |
– |
av. – because, just, indeed, surely; |
| aham |
– |
asmat sn. 1n.1 – I; |
| na |
– |
av. – not; |
| varteyam |
– |
√vṛt (to move, to happen, to act) Pot. Ā 3v.1 – I would engage; |
| jātu |
– |
av. – at all, ever, once, some day; |
| karmaṇi |
– |
karman 7n.1 n. – in activity (from: √kṛ – to do); |
| atandritaḥ |
– |
a-tandrita 1n.1 m. – free from laziness (tandrā – exhaustion, laziness); |
| mama |
– |
asmat sn. 6n.1 – my; |
| vartma |
– |
vartman 2n.1 n. – track of a wheel, path, way, course (from: √vṛt – to move, to happen, to act); |
| anuvartante |
– |
anu-√vṛt (to follow, to obey) Praes. Ā 1v.3 – they follow; |
| manuṣyāḥ |
– |
manuṣya 1n.3 m. – people (from: √man – to think, manu – a man, a person); |
| pārtha |
– |
pārtha 8n.1 m. – O son of Pṛthā (from: √pṛth – to extend, pṛthā – Kuntī, mother of the sons of Pāṇḍu); |
| sarvaśaḥ |
– |
av. – completely, entirely, altogether, on all sides (from: sarva – all, whole); |
yadi hy ahaṃ na varteyaṃ → yadi hy ahaṃ na varteya / yady ahaṃ na pravarteyaṃ / yady ahaṃ na pravarteya / yad ahaṃ na ca varteyaṃ (indeed if I would not engage);
vartmānuvartante → vartmānuvarteran (they would follow the path);
The key:
an excerpt from the commented verse
quotes from the scriptures
starting polemic
|
For, should I not ever engage in action, unwearied,
men would in all matters follow My path, O son of Pritha.
|
|
yadi hy ahaṃ na varteyaṃ jātu karmaṇy atandritaḥ |
mama vartmānuvartante manuṣyāḥ pārtha sarvaśaḥ ||3.23|| |
|
My: I being the chief among men.
|
|
yadi hi punar ahaṃ na varteyaṁ jātu kadācit karmaṇy atandrito ’nalasaḥ san mama śreṣṭhasya sato vatrma mārgam anuvartante manuṣyāḥ | he pārtha! sarvaśaḥ sarva-prakāraiḥ ||3.23|| |
commentary under the verse BhG 3.24
akaraṇe lokasya nāśaṃ darśayati yadi hy aham iti | jātu kadācit | atandrito ‚nalasaḥ san yadi karmaṇi na varteya karma nānutiṣṭheyam, tarhi mamaiva vartma mārgaṃ manuṣyā anuvartante anuverterann ity arthaḥ
loka-saṅgraho ‚pi na te kartavyo viphalatvād ity āśaṅkyāha yadi hy aham iti | yadi punar aham atandrito ‚nalasaḥ san karmaṇi jātu kadācin na varteya nānutiṣṭheyaṃ karmāṇi tadā mama śreṣṭhasya sato vartma mārgaṃ he pārtha manuṣyāḥ karmādhikāriṇaḥ santo ‚nuvartante ‚nuvarteran sarvaśaḥ sarva-prakāraiḥ
anuvartate ‚nuvarterann ity arthaḥ
yadīti | ahaṃ sarveśvaraḥ siddha-sarvārtho ‚pi yadu-kulāvatīrṇo jātu kadācit tat-kulocite śāstrokte karmaṇi na varteya tan na kuryām atandritaḥ sāvadhānaḥ san tarhi māṃ dṛṣṭāntaṃ kṛtvā manuṣyāḥ śreṣṭhasya mama vartma kula-vihitācāra-tyāga-rūpam anuvarteran tato bhraṃśerann ity arthaḥ
