Devanagari
युयुत्सतां कुत्रचिदाततायिनां
जय: सदैकत्र न वै परात्मनाम् ।
विनैकमुत्पत्तिलयस्थितीश्वरं
सर्वज्ञमाद्यं पुरुषं सनातनम् ॥ ७ ॥
Verse text
yuyutsatāṁ kutracid ātatāyināṁ
jayaḥ sadaikatra na vai parātmanām
vinaikam utpatti-laya-sthitīśvaraṁ
sarvajṣam ādyaṁ puruṣaṁ sanātanam
Synonyms
yuyutsatām
—
of those who are belligerent
;
kutracit
—
sometimes
;
ātatāyinām
—
armed with weapons
;
jayaḥ
—
victory
;
sadā
—
always
;
ekatra
—
in one place
;
na
—
not
;
vai
—
indeed
;
para
—
ātmanām — of the subordinate living entities, who work only under the direction of the Supersoul
;
vinā
—
except
;
ekam
—
one
;
utpatti
—
of the creation
;
laya
—
annihilation
;
sthiti
—
and maintenance
;
īśvaram
—
the controller
;
sarva
—
jṣam — who knows everything (past, present and future)
;
ādyam
—
the original
;
puruṣam
—
enjoyer
;
sanātanam
—
eternal .
Translation
Vṛtrāsura continued: O Indra, no one is guaranteed of being always victorious but the original enjoyer, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Bhagavān. He is the cause of creation, maintenance and annihilation, and He knows everything. Being dependent and being obliged to accept material bodies, belligerent subordinates are sometimes victorious and sometimes defeated.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Persons desiring to fight with weapons but who are not dependent on the Lord, who are devoid of the one eternal, omniscient Lord who is controller of creation, maintenance and destruction, do not have continuous victory against enemies, or even victory against one person.
For those holding weapons, there is never victory at any time against enemies, or even against one enemy (ekatra). Though you are always victorious over the demons you are not victorious over me. This is because people like you are not dependent on the Lord but on someone else (parātmanām). But the Lord is always victorious. You cannot always have victory like Arjuna, who was completely dependent on the Lord.
Purport
The Lord says in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
:
sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo
mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca
“I am seated in everyone’s heart, and from Me come remembrance, knowledge and forgetfulness.” When two parties fight, the fighting actually goes on under the direction of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is Paramātmā, the Supersoul. Elsewhere in the
Gītā
(3.27)
the Lord says:
prakṛteḥ kriyamāṇāni
guṇaiḥ karmāṇi sarvaśaḥ
ahaṅkāra-vimūḍhātmā
kartāham iti manyate
“The bewildered spirit soul, under the influence of the three modes of material nature, thinks himself the doer of activities that are in actuality carried out by nature.” The living entities work only under the direction of the Supreme Lord. The Lord gives orders to material nature, and she arranges facilities for the living entities. The living entities are not independent, although they foolishly think themselves the doers (
kartā
).
Victory is always with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. As for the subordinate living entities, they fight under the arrangement of the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Victory or defeat is not actually theirs; it is an arrangement by the Lord through the agency of material nature. Pride in victory, or moroseness in defeat, is useless. One should fully depend on the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who is responsible for the victory and defeat of all living entities. The Lord advises,
niyataṁ kuru karma tvaṁ karma jyāyo hy akarmaṇaḥ:
“Perform your prescribed duty, for action is better than inaction.” The living entity is ordered to act according to his position. Victory or defeat depends on the Supreme Lord.
Karmaṇy evādhikāras te mā phaleṣu kadācana:
“You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the fruits of actions.” One must act sincerely, according to his position. Victory or defeat depends on the Lord.
Vṛtrāsura encouraged Indra, saying, “Don’t be morose because of my victory. There is no need to stop fighting. Instead, you should go on with your duty. When Kṛṣṇa desires, you will certainly be victorious.” This verse is very instructive for sincere workers in the Kṛṣṇa consciousness movement. We should not be jubilant in victory or morose in defeat. We should make a sincere effort to implement the will of Kṛṣṇa, or Śrī Caitanya Mahāprabhu, and we should not be concerned with victory and defeat. Our only duty is to work sincerely, so that our activities may be recognized by Kṛṣṇa.