18.12
अनिष्टमिष्टं मिश्रं च
त्रिविधं कर्मणः फलम् ।
भवत्यत्यागिनां प्रेत्य
न तु संन्यासिनां क्वचित् ॥
aniṣṭam iṣṭaṃ miśraṃ ca trividhaṃ karmaṇaḥ phalam
bhavaty atyāgināṃ pretya na tu saṃnyāsināṃ kvacit
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is still speaking, to Arjuna (अर्जुन). The fruit returns, and it returns to one of the two men.
The verse
The fruit of action is of three kinds, unwanted, wanted, and mixed, and after death it accrues to those who do not relinquish, but never to the renouncers.
नेपालीमा
कर्मको फल तीन किसिमको हुन्छ, नचाहिएको, चाहिएको र मिसिएको। मरेपछि त्यो नत्याग्नेहरूलाई लाग्छ, तर संन्यासीलाई कहिल्यै लाग्दैन।
Where it sits
The stretch that began with Arjuna's (अर्जुन) question closes on the fruit: the man who keeps it gets it back in three forms after death, and the man who relinquished it does not. The next verse leaves tyāga (त्याग) and starts the causes of any act.
Split: अनिष्टम् + इष्टम् + मिश्रम् + च + त्रि-विधम् + कर्मणः + फलम् + भवति + अत्यागिनाम् + प्रेत्य + न + तु + संन्यासिनाम् + क्वचित्
aniṣṭam + iṣṭam + miśram + ca + tri-vidham + karmaṇaḥ + phalam + bhavati + atyāginām + pretya + na + tu + saṃnyāsinām + kvacit
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| अनिष्टम् | aniṣṭam | nominative singular neuter | the unwanted. |
| इष्टम् | iṣṭam | nominative singular neuter | the wanted. |
| मिश्रम् | miśram | nominative singular neuter | the mixed. |
| च | ca | indeclinable | and. |
| त्रि-विधम् | trividham | nominative singular neuter | of three kinds. Agrees with phalam (फलम्). |
| कर्मणः | karmaṇaḥ | genitive singular | of action. |
| फलम् | phalam | nominative singular | the fruit. |
| भवति | bhavati | present, 3rd singular of bhū (भू) | it comes to be. It accrues. |
| अत्यागिनाम् | atyāginām | genitive plural of atyāgin (अत्यागिन्) | of those who do not relinquish. |
| प्रेत्य | pretya | gerund of प्र-इ pra-i | having gone forth. After death. |
| न | na | indeclinable | not. |
| तु | tu | indeclinable | but. |
| संन्यासिनाम् | saṃnyāsinām | genitive plural of saṃnyāsin (संन्यासिन्) | of the renouncers. |
| क्वचित् | kvacit | indeclinable | ever. Anywhere. |
The phrases
अनिष्टम् इष्टम् मिश्रम् च aniṣṭam iṣṭam miśram ca are the three flavors of the fruit. Unwanted, wanted, mixed. tri-vidham karmaṇaḥ phalam (त्रि-विधम् कर्मणः फलम्) gathers them: the fruit of action is of three kinds. अनिष्टम् इष्टम् aniṣṭam iṣṭam is recited aniṣṭam iṣṭam (अनिष्टमिष्टम्).
bhavati atyāginām pretya (भवति अत्यागिनाम् प्रेत्य) is who receives it, and when. It accrues to those who do not relinquish, after death. bhavati atyāginām (भवति अत्यागिनाम्) is bhavaty atyāginām (भवत्यत्यागिनाम्).
na tu saṃnyāsinām kvacit (न तु संन्यासिनाम् क्वचित्) is the other party. For the renouncers it does not accrue, ever. The renouncer here is the man 18.11 has just called tyāgī (त्यागी), the one who gave up the fruit.
Sanskrit in this line
pretya (प्रेत्य) is a gerund of a verb with prefixes, प्र-इ pra-i, "go forth." The ending is --ya (य), not --tvā (त्वा), because prefixes stand in front. It means "having gone forth," and in this line that is death. atyāginām (अत्यागिनाम्) and saṃnyāsinām (संन्यासिनाम्) are genitive plural. bhavati (भवति) with the genitive says the fruit comes to be for them, it accrues to them. The fruit is the nominative. The men are not the subject.
Say it back
Cover the English. Say the three fruits and who does not receive them. If saṃnyāsinām (संन्यासिनाम्) receives the mixed fruit, stay here.