< उपदेशक 2 >

1 मैले मेरो मनमा भनेँ, “अब आइज । म तँलाई खुसीले जाँच गर्ने छु । त्यसैले सुख-विलास गर ।” तर यो पनि अस्थायी मन्द बतासमात्र रहेछ ।
[Then] I said to myself, “Okay, I will try to do everything that I enjoy. I will find out whether doing what I enjoy can truly enable me to be happy.” But I found out that doing that was also useless/senseless.
2 मैले हाँसोको विषयमा भनेँ, “यो सन्काहा हो,” र सुख-विलासको विषयमा भनेँ, “यसको के फाइदा छ?”
[So] I said [to myself], “It is foolish to laugh [all the time], and continually doing what I enjoy does not seem to bring any lasting benefit.”
3 दाखमद्यले मेरा इच्छाहरूलाई कसरी तृप्‍त पार्ने भनी मैले मेरो मनमा अन्वेषण गरेँ । मैले अझै मूर्खतालाई पक्रिरहेको भए तापनि मैले मेरो मनलाई बुद्धिद्वारा डोर्‍याइन दिएँ । मानिसहरूको जीवन अवधिमा स्वर्गमूनि तिनीहरूको लागि के फाइदा छ भनेर म पत्ता लगाउन चाहन्थेँ ।
[So], after thinking a lot about it, I decided to (cheer myself/cause myself to be happy) by drinking [a lot of] wine. [So] while I was still trying to be wise, I decided to do things that [many] people do to be happy during the short time that they are alive on the earth.
4 मैले ठुला-ठुला कुराहरू सम्पन्‍न गरेँ । मैले आफ्नो लागि घरहरू बनाएँ र दाखबारीहरू लगाएँ ।
I did great things: I [caused] houses to be built for myself and vineyards to be planted.
5 मैले आफ्नो लागि बगैँचाहरू उद्यानहरू बनाएँ । मैले तिनमा हर किसिमका फलफुल लगाएँ ।
I [told my workers] to make gardens and parks. [Then] I [told them to] fill the gardens with many kinds of fruit trees.
6 जङ्गलमा सिँचाइ गर्न मैले पानीका तलाउहरू बनाएँ अनि रुखहरू लहलह बढे ।
I [told them to] build reservoirs to store water to irrigate the fruit trees.
7 मैले कमारा-कमारीहरू किनेँ । मेरो दरबारमा जन्मेका कमराहरू पनि थिए । यरूशलेममा मभन्दा अगि शासन गरेका कुनै पनि राजाको भन्दा मेरो भेडा-बाख्राका बगाल र गाईवस्तुका बथान बढी थिए ।
I bought male and female slaves, and babies [who later became my slaves] were born in my palace. I also owned more livestock than any of the previous kings in Jerusalem had owned.
8 मैले आफ्नो लागि चाँदी र सुन, राजाहरू र प्रान्तहरूका खजानाहरू थुपारेँ । मैले आफ्नो लागि गायक-गायिकाहरू अर्थात् मानव-जातिको मनोरञ्‍जन र धेरै उपपत्‍नीहरू राखेँ ।
I also accumulated large amounts of silver and gold [that were paid to me] from the treasures of kings and rulers of provinces. [I hired] men and women to sing for me, and I had many (concubines/slave wives) who gave me [much] pleasure [EUP].
9 यसरी यरूशलेममा मभन्दा अगि भएका सबैभन्दा म धेरै महान् र धेरै धनी भएँ, अनि बुद्धि मसितै थियो ।
So, I became greater than anyone else who had ever lived in Jerusalem, and I was [very] wise.
10 मेरा आँखाले चाहेको कुनै पनि कुरो प्राप्‍त गर्नदेखि मैले रोकिनँ । मैले हृदयलाई कुनै पनि सुख-विलास रोकिनँ, किनकि मेरो हृदय मेरा सबै परिश्रममा आनन्दित हुन्थ्यो, र सुख-विलास मेरा सबै कामको लागि इनाम थियो ।
I got everything [LIT] that I [SYN] saw and wanted. I did everything [LIT] that I thought would enable me to be happy. All those things that I [SYN] enjoyed were [like] a reward for all my hard work.
11 तब मेरा हातले सम्पन्‍न गरेका सबै काम र मैले गरेका कामलाई मैले निरीक्षण गरेँ, तर फेरि पनि हरेक थोक बाफ र बतासलाई खेदेजस्तै मात्र थियो । सूर्यमूनि कुनै लाभ थिएन ।
[But] then I thought about all the hard work that I [SYN] had done [to get all those things], and none of it seems to bring any lasting benefit [DOU]. It was all [like] chasing the wind.
12 तब म बुद्धि, पागलपन र मूर्खताको विषयमा विचार गर्नतिर फर्किएँ । किनकि राजाले पहिले नै गरिसकेको कामभन्दा तिनको पछि आउनेले केचाहिँ बढी गर्न सक्छ र?
Then I started to think about being wise, and [also about] being foolish [DOU]. [I said to myself, “I certainly do not think that] [RHQ] the next king will be able to do anything better than I can.”
13 जसरी अन्धकारभन्दा ज्योति उत्तम हो, त्यसै गरी मूर्खताभन्दा बुद्धिका फाइदाहरू रहेछन् भनी मैले बुझ्न थालेँ ।
And I thought, “Surely it is better to be wise than to be foolish, like light is better than darkness,
14 बुद्धिमान् मानिसले आफ्नो शिरमा भएका आँखा त्यो कहाँ जाँदै छ भनी हेर्न प्रयोग गर्छ, तर मूर्खचाहिँ अन्धकारमा हिँड्छ । तर यी सबैमाथि उही दशा आइपर्छ भनी मलाई थाहा छ ।
[because] wise people [walk in the daylight and] [IDM] can see where they are going, but foolish people walk in the darkness [and cannot see where they are going].” But I [also] realized that both wise people and foolish people eventually die.
15 तब मैले मेरो मनमा भनेँ, “मूर्खलाई जे हुन्छ, मलाई पनि त्यही हुने छ । त्यसैले म ज्यादै बुद्धिमान् भएकोमा केचाहिँ फरक पर्छ त?” मैले मेरो मनमा निष्कर्ष निकालेँ, “यो पनि केवल बाफ हो ।”
So I said to myself, “I am very wise, but I will [die at the end of my life], like foolish people do. So (how has it benefited me to be very wise?/it certainly has not benefited me to be very wise [RHQ]). I do not understand why [people consider that] it is valuable to be wise.
16 किनकि मूर्खलाई झैँ बुद्धिमान् मानिसलाई पनि धेरै लामो समयसम्म सम्झँदैन । आउँदा दिनहरूमा हरेक कुरा बिर्सिएको हुने छ । बुद्धिमान् मानिस मूर्खझैँ मर्छ ।
Wise people and foolish people all die. And after we die, we will all eventually be forgotten [DOU].”
17 सूर्यमूनि गरिएका सबै काम मेरो लागि खराबै मात्र भएकाले मैले जीवनको जाँच गरेँ । यसो हुनुको कारणचाहिँ हरेक कुरो बाफजस्तै हो र बतासलाई खेद्‍ने कोसिस मात्र हो ।
So I hated being alive, because everything that we do here on the earth [MTY] distresses me. It all seems to be useless [like] chasing the wind.
18 सूर्यमूनि मैले काम गरेर हासिल गरेका मेरा सबै प्राप्‍तिहरूलाई मैले घृणा गरेँ, किनकि मैले ती मपछि आउनेको लागि छोड्नैपर्छ ।
I [also began to] hate all the hard work that I had done, because [when I die], everything [that I have acquired] will belong to the next king.
19 किनकि त्यो बुद्धिमान् वा मूर्ख मानिस कुनचाहिँ हुने छ भनी कसलाई थाहा छ र? तापनि सूर्यमूनि मेरो काम र बुद्धिले बनाएको हरेक कुरोमाथि त्यो मालिक हुने छ । यो पनि बाफ हो ।
And (who/no one) knows [RHQ] whether he will be wise or whether he will be foolish. But even if he is foolish, he will acquire all the things that I worked very hard and wisely to get.
20 त्यसकारण सूर्यमूनि मैले गरेका सबै कामको विषयमा मेरो मन निराश हुन थाल्यो ।
I thought about all the hard work that I had done. [It seemed useless], and I became depressed/discouraged.
21 किनकि बुद्धि, ज्ञान र सिपले काम गर्ने कुनै मानिस होला, तर त्यसले आफूसित भएका सबै थोक अर्को मानिसलाई छाडिदिने छ । यो पनि बाफ र ठुलो दुर्भाग्य हो ।
Some people work wisely and skillfully, using the things that they have learned. But [when they die], they leave everything, and someone who has not worked hard acquires those things. And that also [seemed to] be senseless and caused me to be discouraged.
22 किनकि सूर्यमूनि कडा मेहनतसाथ काम गर्ने र आफ्नो परिश्रमलाई पुरा गर्न कोसिस गर्ने मानिसले के लाभ पाउँछ र?
So, it seems that people do not [RHQ] get much for all the hard work that they do and for worrying.
23 हरेक दिन त्यसको काम दर्दनाक र तनावग्रस्त हुन्छ । त्यसैले रातमा त्यसको प्राणले विश्राम पाउने छैन । यो पनि बाफजस्तै हो ।
Every day the work that they do causes them to experience pain and to be worried. And during the night, their minds are not able to rest. That also is very frustrating.
24 खानु, पिउनु र आफ्नो काममा भएको असल कुरोदेखि सन्तुष्‍ट हुनुभन्दा मानिसको लागि कुनै उत्तम कुरो छैन । यो सत्यताचाहिँ परमेश्‍वरको हातबाट आउँछ भनी मैले देखेँ ।
[So I decided that] the best thing that we can do is to enjoy what we eat and drink, and [also] enjoy our work. And I realized that those things are what God intends for us.
25 किनकि परमेश्‍वरविना कसले खान र कुनै पनि किसिमको सुख-विलासमा रमाउन सक्छ?
There is absolutely no one [RHQ] who is able to enjoy those things if God does not give those things to him.
26 परमेश्‍वरलाई खुसी पार्ने जो कसैलाई उहाँले बुद्धि, ज्ञान र आनन्द दिनुहुन्छ । तथापि पापीलाई चाहिँ परमेश्‍वरले उहाँलाई खुसी तुल्याउने मानिसको निम्ति जम्मा गर्ने र थुपार्ने काम दिनुहुन्छ । यो पनि बाफ र बतासलाई खेद्‍ने कोसिस मात्र हो ।
God enables those who please him to be wise, to know [many things], and to enjoy [many things]. But if sinful people work hard and become rich, God [can] take their money away from them and give it to those who please him. But that also is something that is difficult for me to understand. [Their working hard seems] useless, [like] chasing the wind.

< उपदेशक 2 >