pÅ«rvaá¹ nirjitya á¹£aá¸-vargaá¹
jeá¹£yÄmo rÄja-mantriṇaḥ
tataḥ saciva-paurÄpta-
karÄ«ndrÄn asya kaṇá¹akÄn
evaá¹ krameṇa jeá¹£yÄmaḥ
pá¹›thvÄ«á¹ sÄgara-mekhalÄm
ity ÄÅ›Ä-baddha-há¹›dayÄ
na paśyanty antike 'ntakam
pÅ«rvam - first of all; nirjitya - conquering; á¹£aá¹-vargam - the five senses and the mind; jeá¹£yÄmaḥ - we will conquer; rÄja-mantriṇaḥ - the royal ministers; tataḥ - then; saciva - the personal secretaries; paura - the citizens of the capital; Äpta - the friends; kari-indrÄn - the elephant keepers; asya - ridding ourselves of; kaṇá¹akÄn - the thorns; evam - in this way; krameṇa - gradually; jeá¹£yÄmaḥ - we shall conquer; pá¹›thvÄ«m - the earth; sÄgara - the ocean; mekhalÄm - whose girdle; iti - thus thinking; ÄÅ›Ä - by hopes; baddha - bound up; há¹›dayÄḥ - their hearts; na paÅ›yanti - they do not see; antike - nearby; antakam - their own end.
“Kings and politicians imagine: ‘First I will conquer my senses and mind; then I will subdue my chief ministers and rid myself of the thorn-pricks of my advisors, citizens, friends and relatives, as well as the keepers of my elephants. In this way I will gradually conquer the entire earth.’ Because the hearts of these leaders are bound by great expectations, they fail to see death waiting nearby.
To satisfy their greed for power, determined politicians, dictators and military leaders undergo severe austerities and sacrifice, with much self-discipline. Then they lead their great nations in a struggle to control the sea, land, air and space. Although the politicians and their followers will soon be dead — since birth and death are all inevitable in this world — they persist in their frenetic struggle for ephemeral glory.
