Shloka:
दूरेण ह्यवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगाद्धनञ्जय ।
बुद्धौ शरणमन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः ॥
Step 1: संधि विच्छेद
Simplifying the Shloka by splitting the compound words (shown in colored fonts).
दूरेण हि अवरं कर्म बुद्धियोगात् धनञ्जय ।
बुद्धौ शरणम् अन्विच्छ कृपणाः फलहेतवः ॥
The following sandhis are seen in this Shloka.
हि + अ = ह्य
त् + ध = द्ध
म् + अ = म
These are trivial Sandhis and no further explanation is being given.
Step 2: Word by word interpretation
The first line of the Shloka has an implicit verb ‘अस्ति’ having ‘कर्म’ as its subject. The second line has two verbs, the first one being अन्विच्छ having an implicit त्वम् as its subject. The second verb is an implicit भवन्ति having कृपणाः as its subject.
With this background, let’s have a closer look at each word in the Shloka.
दूरेण – 3rd Vibhakti, singular form of the neuter gender word ‘दूर’ meaning ‘far’ in English. In the 3rd Vibhakti the word means ‘by far’ in English and in Hindi the literal meaning is ‘दूर से’ but in this sense ‘दूर दूर तक’ gives a better feel of the usage.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’ and are as follows:
| फलेन | फलाभ्याम् | फलैः |
हि – An avyaya meaning ‘ही’ in Hindi.
अवरं – Adjective of the word ‘कर्म’ and hence takes the same Vibhakti, vachan and gender as the word it describes. Meaning of the word is ‘inferior’ in English and ‘नीचा’ in Hindi.
The word is neuter gender, 1st Vibhakti, singular form and shall take the Shabd Roop like ‘फल’
| फलम् | फले | फलानि |
कर्म – Root word is the neuter gender word ‘कर्मन्’, meaning ‘activity’ in English and it is in the 1st Vibhakti, singular form. The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
| कर्म | कर्म्णी कर्मणी | कर्माणि |
बुद्धियोगात् – The root word is ‘बुद्धियोग’ and means the ‘yogic intelligence’ or equanimity as we discussed in the last Shloka. The word is in the masculine gender, singular form and 5th Vibhakti. The 5th Vibhakti is indicative of separation or comparison. In this case, the 5th Vibhakti is used for comparison.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’ and are as follows:
| बालात् | बालाभ्याम् | बालेभ्यः |
धनञ्जय – Sambodhan form for addressing Arjuna
बुद्धौ – Root word is the feminine gender ‘बुद्धि’ meaning ‘intelligence’ and in context of the Shloka refers to the ‘yogic intelligence’ of the first line. The word is in 7th Vibhakti, singular form. In the 7th Vibhakti, the word shall mean ‘in (yogic) intelligence’ in English. In Hindi the same shall translate as ‘बुद्धि में’.
The Shabd Roop will be as follows:
| मतौ, मत्याम् | मत्योः | मतिषु |
शरणम् – Neuter gender word meaning ‘refuge’. The word is an object of the verb ‘अन्विच्छ’ and hence it is in the 2nd Vibhakti in the singular form. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘फल’
| फलम् | फले | फलानि |
अन्विच्छ – The word is composite of ‘अनु’ and ‘इच्छ’ – ‘इच्छ’ having the root word ‘ईष्’, which is a verb of class 6, meaning ‘to seek’ or ‘to wish’ in English and in this context ‘खोजना’ in Hindi. The word is in ‘लोट् लकार’ which is used for request/instruction. The 2nd person singular form is used, which gives us an indication that the subject of the verb is the implicit pronoun ‘युष्मद्’ meaning ‘you’ in English.
The Dhatu Roop will be as follows:
| इच्छ | इच्छतम् | इच्छत |
कृपणाः – Root word is ‘कृपण’ – meaning ‘wretched’ in English and ‘दीन’ in Hindi. The word is a subject of an implicit verb ‘भवन्ति’ and hence it is in the 1st Vibhakti. The masculine and plural form shall apply. The Shabd Roop will be like ‘बाल’
| बालः | बालौ | बालाः |
फलहेतवः – An adjective of कृपणाः and hence the same Vibhakti, gender and number shall apply. The root word is ‘फलहेतु’ meaning ‘for the sake of results’ in English and ‘केवल फल के लिए’ in Hindi. There are no equivalent adjectives in English and Hindi so expect some approximations in translations.
The Shabd Roop will be like ‘गुरु’
| गुरुः | गुरू | गुरवः |
Step 3: Rearrangement of the Shloka & Stitching it all together
The rearranged and translated lines for interpretation as per the sequence of Hindi language are as follows.
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Not a very accurate translation. ‘शरण को खोजो’, though okay as a literal translation, shall make more sense as ‘शरण लो’. Also, there’s no adjective equivalent for फलहेतवः and hence an artificial construct is used.
In English the translations will be as follows:
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English translation seems to be coming out better. ‘seek refuge’ matches more closely with the Sanskrit verse. In English translation also there’s no adjective equivalent for फलहेतवः and hence an artificial construct is used.
Learning Sanskrit through Geeta 