तद्वै धनुस्त इषव: स रथो हयास्ते सोऽहं रथी नृपतयो यत आनमन्ति । सर्वं क्षणेन तदभूदसदीशरिक्तं भस्मन्हुतं कुहकराद्धमिवोप्तमूष्याम् ॥ २१ ॥
tad vai dhanus ta isavah sa ratho hayas te so ’ham rathi nrpatayo yata anamanti sarvam ksanena tad abhud asad isa-riktam bhasman hutam kuhaka-raddham ivoptam usyam
- tat
- the same
- vai
- certainly
- dhanuh te
- the same bow
- isavah
- arrows
- sah
- the very same
- rathah
- chariot
- hayah te
- the very same horses
- sah aham
- I am the same Arjuna
- rathi
- the chariot-fighter
- nrpatayah
- all the kings
- yatah
- whom
- anamanti
- offered their respects
- sarvam
- all
- ksanena
- at a moment’s notice
- tat
- all those
- abhut
- became
- asat
- useless
- isa
- because of the Lord
- riktam
- being void
- bhasman
- ashes
- hutam
- offering butter
- kuhaka-raddham
- money created by magical feats
- iva
- like that
- uptam
- sown
- usyam
- in barren land
I have the very same Gandiva bow, the same arrows, the same chariot drawn by the same horses, and I use them as the same Arjuna to whom all the kings offered their due respects. But in the absence of Lord Krsna, all of them, at a moment’s notice, have become null and void. It is exactly like offering clarified butter on ashes, accumulating money with a magic wand or sowing seeds on barren land.