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Vālmīki Rāmāyaṇa 1.57.21

Bāla Kāṇḍa, sarga 57: Story of Viśvāmitra: Triśaṅku’s curse and appeal for refuge. Vasiṣṭha’s sons reject and curse Triśaṅku, his followers abandon him and he asks Viśvāmitra to overcome his fate

In the sequence: he laments that fate has defeated his efforts → taking Viśvāmitra as his only refuge, he asks him to overcome that fate through effort.

1.57.21

daivam eva paraṃ manye pauruṣaṃ tu nirarthakam
daivenākramyate sarvaṃ daivaṃ hi paramā gatiḥ

'I regard fate alone as supreme, but human effort as fruitless; everything is overpowered by fate, for fate is the highest recourse.'

Words: daivam — fate, destiny; eva — alone; paraṃ — supreme; manye — I regard, think; pauruṣaṃ — human effort, manly exertion; tu — but; nirarthakam — fruitless, useless; daivenākramyate — is overpowered by fate; sarvaṃ — everything; daivaṃ — fate; hi — for, indeed; paramā gatiḥ — the highest recourse

Composed by Maharṣi Vālmīki, the ādikavi of the ādikāvya: the first poet of the first poem. Sanskrit: The Vālmīki-Rāmāyaṇa: Critical Edition, Oriental Institute, Baroda, 1960–1975 (gen. eds. G. H. Bhatt, U. P. Shah); IAST from GRETIL (Göttingen). Translation and word glosses: Claude Opus 4.6–4.7; summaries and sequences: ChatGPT Astra (machine-made). Numbering follows the Critical Edition, not the vulgate (e.g. Gita Press, valmikiramayan.net), so sarga and verse numbers can differ from those editions.