Udyamena hi sidhyanti: effort, not wishes
उद्यमेन हि सिध्यन्ति कार्याणि न मनोरथैः ।
नहि सुप्तस्य सिंहस्य प्रविशन्ति मुखे मृगाः ॥
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ |
nahi suptasya siṃhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ ||
Translation
Tasks are accomplished by effort, not by wishing. Deer do not walk into the mouth of a sleeping lion.
Meaning
This verse closes a debate in the Hitopadeśa's introduction about fate (daiva) and human effort (puruṣakāra). A few verses earlier the text compares them to the two wheels of a chariot: neither works alone.
The word for "wish" is a small poem in itself: manoratha, literally "the chariot of the mind", the vehicle in which we ride to what we want without moving.
Even the lion, king of beasts, has to hunt. The Pañcatantra has nearly the same verse (2.136 in the GRETIL text) with vadane, "into the mouth", instead of mukhe.
Word by word · 12 words
| Devanagari | IAST | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| उद्यमेन | udyamena | by effort, by exertion (instr. sg. m.) |
| हि | hi | indeed |
| सिध्यन्ति | sidhyanti | are accomplished, succeed (3rd pl. present of √sidh) |
| कार्याणि | kāryāṇi | tasks, undertakings (nom. pl. n.) |
| न | na | not |
| मनोरथैः | manorathaiḥ | by wishes, by day-dreams (instr. pl.; manas "mind" + ratha "chariot") |
| नहि | nahi | for ... not |
| सुप्तस्य | suptasya | of one who is asleep (gen. sg., past participle of √svap) |
| सिंहस्य | siṃhasya | of a lion (gen. sg.) |
| प्रविशन्ति | praviśanti | enter (3rd pl. present of pra + √viś) |
| मुखे | mukhe | into the mouth (loc. sg.) |
| मृगाः | mṛgāḥ | deer, wild animals (nom. pl. m.) |
Pronunciation
udyamena hi sidhyanti kāryāṇi na manorathaiḥ |
nahi suptasya siṃhasya praviśanti mukhe mṛgāḥ ||
- siṃhasya: the anusvāra before h is a nasalised vowel, "sĩ-ha-sya".
- mṛgāḥ: ṛ is a vowel, "mri", and the final visarga echoes ā: mṛ-gā-ha.
- ṛ is a vowel, a short syllabic r (like the "ri" in "rhythm" said quickly): mṛ-tyu, not mar-tyu.
- A final visarga ḥ is a soft "h" breath that echoes the vowel before it: namaḥ sounds like "nama-ha" (lightly).