18.8
दुःखमित्येव यत्कर्म
कायक्लेशभयात्त्यजेत् ।
स कृत्वा राजसं त्यागं
नैव त्यागफलं लभेत् ॥
duḥkham ity eva yat karma kāyakleśabhayāt tyajet
sa kṛtvā rājasaṃ tyāgaṃ naiva tyāgaphalaṃ labhet
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). This is the second kind.
The verse
He who would abandon an action merely because it is pain, from fear of bodily trouble, has made a relinquishment of rajas (रजस्), and he would not obtain the fruit of relinquishment.
नेपालीमा
शरीरको कष्टको डरले, दुख हो भन्ने मात्र कारणले कर्म त्याग्न खोज्नेले रजस्को त्याग गरेको हुन्छ, र उसले त्यागको फल पाउँदैन।
Where it sits
18.7 was delusion, the dark kind, and this is fear of the body's trouble, the passionate kind. He drops the act, and the fruit of tyāga (त्याग) still does not come to him; the kind that obtains it is 18.9.
Split: दुःखम् + इति + एव + यत् + कर्म + काय-क्लेश-भयात् + त्यजेत् + सः + कृत्वा + राजसम् + त्यागम् + न + एव + त्याग-फलम् + लभेत्
duḥkham + iti + eva + yat + karma + kāya-kleśa-bhayāt + tyajet + saḥ + kṛtvā + rājasam + tyāgam + na + eva + tyāga-phalam + labhet
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| दुःखम् | duḥkham | nominative singular neuter | pain. "It is pain." |
| इति | iti | indeclinable | thus. "Saying that it is pain." |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | merely. Just. |
| यत् | yat | nominative singular neuter | which. |
| कर्म | karma | nominative singular of karman (कर्मन्) | action. |
| काय-क्लेश-भयात् | kāya-kleśa-bhayāt | ablative singular | from fear of the trouble of the body. kleśa (क्लेश) is trouble. bhaya (भय) is fear. |
| त्यजेत् | tyajet | optative, 3rd singular of tyaj (त्यज्) | he would abandon. |
| सः | saḥ | nominative singular | he. |
| कृत्वा | kṛtvā | gerund of kṛ (कृ) | having done. |
| राजसम् | rājasam | accusative singular | of rajas (रजस्). The passionate kind. |
| त्यागम् | tyāgam | accusative singular | relinquishment. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| एव | eva | indeclinable | indeed. |
| त्याग-फलम् | tyāga-phalam | accusative singular | the fruit of relinquishment. |
| लभेत् | labhet | optative, 3rd singular of labh (लभ्) | he would obtain. |
The phrases
दुःखम् इति एव यत् कर्म duḥkham iti eva yat karma is the action he looks at and calls pain, and nothing more. दुःखम् इति एव duḥkham iti eva is recited duḥkham ity eva (दुःखमित्येव). kāya-kleśa-bhayāt tyajet (काय-क्लेश-भयात् त्यजेत्) is why he would drop it: from fear of bodily trouble. The ablative is the cause. bhayāt tyajet (भयात् त्यजेत्) is written bhayāt tyajet (भयात्त्यजेत्).
saḥ kṛtvā rājasaṃ tyāgam (सः कृत्वा राजसं त्यागम्) is the man who has made that kind of relinquishment. saḥ kṛtvā (सः कृत्वा) is recited sa kṛtvā (स कृत्वा). The pronoun saḥ (सः) drops its visarga before a consonant and does not become so (सो). na eva tyāga-phalam labhet (न एव त्याग-फलम् लभेत्) is what he fails to obtain. na eva (न एव) is naiva (नैव).
Sanskrit in this line
tyajet (त्यजेत्) and labhet (लभेत्) are both optative, third person singular. The optative here is the man one may picture: "he would abandon," "he would obtain." It is not a command. śṛṇu (शृणु) in 18.4 was the command. The --et (एत्) ending is this mood. na labhet (न लभेत्) refuses the fruit to that man. The fruit is tyāga-phalam (त्याग-फलम्), the fruit that belongs to relinquishment, not the fruit of the action he ran from.
Say it back
Cover the English. Say why he drops the act, and what he does not obtain. If kāya-kleśa-bhayāt (काय-क्लेश-भयात्) comes out as "because the body is evil," stay here.