18.5
यज्ञदानतपःकर्म
न त्याज्यं कार्यमेव तत् ।
यज्ञो दानं तपश्चैव
पावनानि मनीषिणाम् ॥
yajñadānatapaḥkarma na tyājyaṃ kāryam eva tat
yajño dānaṃ tapaś caiva pāvanāni manīṣiṇām
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). This is the decision, against the first opinion of 18.3.
The verse
The action of sacrifice, gift, and austerity is not to be abandoned; it is to be done; sacrifice, gift, and austerity purify the thoughtful.
नेपालीमा
यज्ञ, दान र तपको कर्म त्याग्नु हुँदैन, त्यो गर्नुपर्छ। यज्ञ, दान र तपले विचारशीललाई शुद्ध पार्छन्।
Where it sits
18.4 promised a decision about tyāga (त्याग), and it starts by keeping sacrifice, gift, and austerity. What is relinquished has to be something else, and 18.6 says what.
Split: यज्ञ-दान-तपः-कर्म + न + त्याज्यम् + कार्यम् + एव + तत् + यज्ञः + दानम् + तपः + च + एव + पावनानि + मनीषिणाम्
yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma + na + tyājyam + kāryam + eva + tat + yajñaḥ + dānam + tapaḥ + ca + eva + pāvanāni + manīṣiṇām
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यज्ञ-दान-तपः-कर्म | yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma | nominative singular neuter | sacrifice, gift, and austerity, taken as action. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| त्याज्यम् | tyājyam | nominative singular neuter, gerundive | to be abandoned. |
| कार्यम् | kāryam | nominative singular neuter, gerundive of kṛ (कृ) | to be done. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | indeed. It presses kāryam (कार्यम्). |
| तत् | tat | nominative singular neuter | that. |
| यज्ञः | yajñaḥ | nominative singular | sacrifice. |
| दानम् | dānam | nominative singular | gift. |
| तपः | tapaḥ | nominative singular of tapas (तपस्) | austerity. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | indeed. |
| पावनानि | pāvanāni | nominative plural neuter | purifying things. |
| मनीषिणाम् | manīṣiṇām | genitive plural of manīṣin (मनीषिन्) | of the thoughtful. For the thoughtful. |
The phrases
yajña-dāna-tapaḥ-karma na tyājyam (यज्ञ-दान-तपः-कर्म न त्याज्यम्) refuses the first opinion. That action is not to be abandoned. कार्यम् एव तत् kāryam eva tat says what it is instead: it is to be done. The two gerundives face each other.
yajñaḥ dānaṃ tapaḥ ca eva (यज्ञः दानं तपः च एव) names the three again, one by one. They are pāvanāni (पावनानि), purifying, for the thoughtful. yajñaḥ dānam (यज्ञः दानम्) is recited yajño dānam (यज्ञो दानम्). tapaḥ ca eva (तपः च एव) is tapaś caiva (तपश्चैव): visarga before c (च्) becomes ś (श्), and च + एव ca + eva becomes caiva (चैव).
Sanskrit in this line
pāvanāni (पावनानि) is neuter plural. yajñaḥ (यज्ञः) is masculine, dānam (दानम्) is neuter, tapaḥ (तपः) is neuter. The adjective does not follow the masculine. It gathers the three as things, and the neuter plural is how a mixed list is gathered. manīṣiṇām (मनीषिणाम्) is genitive plural, "of the thoughtful," the people for whom these three are purifying.
Say it back
Cover the English. Say the three actions and what they are for the thoughtful. If tyājyam (त्याज्यम्) loses its na (न), stay here.