2.15
यं हि न व्यथयन्त्येते पुरुषं पुरुषर्षभ ।
समदुःखसुखं धीरं सोऽमृतत्वाय कल्पते ॥
yaṃ hi na vyathayanty ete puruṣaṃ puruṣarṣabha
samaduḥkhasukhaṃ dhīraṃ so 'mṛtatvāya kalpate
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) continues, and puruṣarṣabha (पुरुषर्षभ) is Arjuna, bull among men.
The verse
The man whom these do not shake, O bull among men — the steady man for whom pain and pleasure are the same — he is fit for deathlessness.
नेपालीमा
हे पुरुषश्रेष्ठ, जसलाई यी कुराहरू हल्लाउँदैनन्, दुःख र सुख उस्तै भएको त्यो स्थिर मानिस अमरताका लागि योग्य छ।
Where it sits
dhīra (धीर) returns from 2.13, now under the pairs of 2.14, and the one who is not shaken by them is fit for amṛtatva (अमृतत्व). The command is still about bearing.
Split: यम् + हि + न + व्यथयन्ति + एते + पुरुषम् + पुरुष-ऋषभ + सम-दुःख-सुखम् + धीरम् + सः + अमृतत्वाय + कल्पते
yam + hi + na + vyathayanti + ete + puruṣam + puruṣa-ṛṣabha + sama-duḥkha-sukham + dhīram + saḥ + amṛtatvāya + kalpate
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यम् | yam | accusative | whom. |
| हि | hi | indeclinable | indeed. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| व्यथयन्ति | vyathayanti | present, 3rd plural, causative of vyath (व्यथ्) | they shake, they agitate. |
| एते | ete | nominative plural | these. The contacts of 2.14. |
| पुरुषम् | puruṣam | accusative | the man. |
| पुरुष-ऋषभ | puruṣa-ṛṣabha | vocative | bull among men. ṛṣabha (ऋषभ) is a bull. |
| सम-दुःख-सुखम् | sama-duḥkha-sukham | accusative, bahuvrīhi (बहुव्रीहि) | for whom pain and pleasure are the same. |
| धीरम् | dhīram | accusative | the steady one. Agrees with yam (यम्). |
| सः | saḥ | nominative | he. |
| अमृतत्वाय | amṛtatvāya | dative | for deathlessness. amṛta (अमृत) is what does not die. --tva (त्व) makes the state. |
| कल्पते | kalpate | present, 3rd singular, middle | he is fit for. |
The phrases
yam hi na vyathayanti ete puruṣam (यम् हि न व्यथयन्ति एते पुरुषम्) is the man these contacts do not shake. व्यथयन्ति + एते vyathayanti + ete is vyathayanty ete (व्यथयन्त्येते): i (इ) before a vowel becomes y (य्). पुरुष + ऋषभ puruṣa + ṛṣabha is puruṣarṣabha (पुरुषर्षभ), because अ + ऋ a + ṛ becomes ar (अर्).
samaduḥkhasukham dhīram (समदुःखसुखम् धीरम्) describes him. Steady, and pain and pleasure the same for him. Both agree with yam (यम्).
saḥ amṛtatvāya kalpate (सः अमृतत्वाय कल्पते) is what he is fit for. He is fit for the state of not dying. सः + अमृतत्वाय saḥ + amṛtatvāya is so 'mṛtatvāya (सोऽमृतत्वाय).
Sanskrit in this line
amṛtatvāya (अमृतत्वाय) is dative, and the dative answers "for." The suffix --tva (त्व) makes the abstract, "the being so." amṛta (अमृत) plus --tva (त्व) is "deathlessness," and --āya (आय) puts that state as the thing he is fit for. kalpate (कल्पते) with a dative means "is fit for," not "he becomes it in this sentence by a rite."
Say it back
Whom these do not shake, and what he is fit for. The dative has to be audible.