1 karinthinaḥ 9
1 ahaṁ kim ekaḥ prerito nāsmi? kimahaṁ svatantro nāsmi? asmākaṁ prabhu ryīśuḥ khrīṣṭaḥ kiṁ mayā nādarśi? yūyamapi kiṁ prabhunā madīyaśramaphalasvarūpā na bhavatha?
Am I not free? Am I not an apostle? Have I not seen our Lord Jesus? Aren’t you yourselves my work achieved in union with the Lord?
2 anyalokānāṁ kṛte yadyapyahaṁ prerito na bhaveyaṁ tathāca yuṣmatkṛte prerito'smi yataḥ prabhunā mama preritatvapadasya mudrāsvarūpā yūyamevādhve|
If I am not an apostle to others, yet at least I am to you; for you are the seal that stamps me as an apostle in union with the Lord.
3 ye lokā mayi doṣamāropayanti tān prati mama pratyuttarametat|
The defense that I make to my critics is this:
4 bhojanapānayoḥ kimasmākaṁ kṣamatā nāsti?
Haven’t we a right to food and drink?
5 anye preritāḥ prabho rbhrātarau kaiphāśca yat kurvvanti tadvat kāñcit dharmmabhaginīṁ vyūhya tayā sārddhaṁ paryyaṭituṁ vayaṁ kiṁ na śaknumaḥ?
Haven’t we a right to take a wife with us, if she is a Christian, as the other apostles and the Master’s brothers and Cephas all do?
6 sāṁsārikaśramasya parityāgāt kiṁ kevalamahaṁ barṇabbāśca nivāritau?
Or is it only Barnabas and I who have no right to give up working for our bread?
7 nijadhanavyayena kaḥ saṁgrāmaṁ karoti? ko vā drākṣākṣetraṁ kṛtvā tatphalāni na bhuṅkte? ko vā paśuvrajaṁ pālayan tatpayo na pivati?
Does anyone ever serve as a soldier at his own expense? Does anyone plant a vineyard and not eat its produce? Or does anyone look after a herd and not drink the milk?
8 kimahaṁ kevalāṁ mānuṣikāṁ vācaṁ vadāmi? vyavasthāyāṁ kimetādṛśaṁ vacanaṁ na vidyate?
Am I, in all this, speaking only from the human standpoint? Does not the Law also say the same?
9 mūsāvyavasthāgranthe likhitamāste, tvaṁ śasyamarddakavṛṣasyāsyaṁ na bhaṁtsyasīti| īśvareṇa balīvarddānāmeva cintā kiṁ kriyate?
For in the Law of Moses it is said – ‘You should not muzzle an ox while it is treading out the grain.’ Is it the bullocks that God is thinking of?
10 kiṁ vā sarvvathāsmākaṁ kṛte tadvacanaṁ tenoktaṁ? asmākameva kṛte tallikhitaṁ| yaḥ kṣetraṁ karṣati tena pratyāśāyuktena karṣṭavyaṁ, yaśca śasyāni marddayati tena lābhapratyāśāyuktena mardditavyaṁ|
Or is not is said entirely for our sakes? Surely it was written for our sakes, for the plowman ought not to plow, nor the thrasher to thrash, without expecting a share of the grain.
11 yuṣmatkṛte'smābhiḥ pāratrikāṇi bījāni ropitāni, ato yuṣmākamaihikaphalānāṁ vayam aṁśino bhaviṣyāmaḥ kimetat mahat karmma?
Since we, then, sowed spiritual seed for you, is it too much that we should reap from you an earthly harvest?
12 yuṣmāsu yo'dhikārastasya bhāgino yadyanye bhaveyustarhyasmābhistato'dhikaṁ kiṁ tasya bhāgibhi rna bhavitavyaṁ? adhikantu vayaṁ tenādhikāreṇa na vyavahṛtavantaḥ kintu khrīṣṭīyasusaṁvādasya ko'pi vyāghāto'smābhiryanna jāyeta tadarthaṁ sarvvaṁ sahāmahe|
If others share in this right over you, don’t we even more? Still we did not avail ourselves of this right. No, we endure anything rather than impede the progress of the good news of the Christ.
13 aparaṁ ye pavitravastūnāṁ paricaryyāṁ kurvvanti te pavitravastuto bhakṣyāṇi labhante, ye ca vedyāḥ paricaryyāṁ kurvvanti te vedisthavastūnām aṁśino bhavantyetad yūyaṁ kiṁ na vida?
Don’t you know that those who do the work of the Temple live on what comes from the Temple, and that those who serve at the altar share the offerings with the altar?
14 tadvad ye susaṁvādaṁ ghoṣayanti taiḥ susaṁvādena jīvitavyamiti prabhunādiṣṭaṁ|
So, too, the Master has appointed that those who tell the good news should get their living from the good news.
15 ahameteṣāṁ sarvveṣāṁ kimapi nāśritavān māṁ prati tadanusārāt ācaritavyamityāśayenāpi patramidaṁ mayā na likhyate yataḥ kenāpi janena mama yaśaso mudhākaraṇāt mama maraṇaṁ varaṁ|
I, however, have not availed myself of any of these rights. I am not saying this to secure such an arrangement for myself; indeed, I would far rather die – Nobody will make my boast a vain one!
16 susaṁvādagheṣaṇāt mama yaśo na jāyate yatastadghoṣaṇaṁ mamāvaśyakaṁ yadyahaṁ susaṁvādaṁ na ghoṣayeyaṁ tarhi māṁ dhik|
If I proclaim the good news, I have nothing to boast of, for I am compelled to do so. Woe is me if I do not share it!
17 icchukena tat kurvvatā mayā phalaṁ lapsyate kintvanicchuke'pi mayi tatkarmmaṇo bhāro'rpito'sti|
If I do this work willingly, I have a reward; but, if unwillingly, I have been charged to perform a duty.
18 etena mayā labhyaṁ phalaṁ kiṁ? susaṁvādena mama yo'dhikāra āste taṁ yadabhadrabhāvena nācareyaṁ tadarthaṁ susaṁvādaghoṣaṇasamaye tasya khrīṣṭīyasusaṁvādasya nirvyayīkaraṇameva mama phalaṁ|
What is my reward, then? To present the good news free of all cost, and so make but a sparing use of the rights which it gives me.
19 sarvveṣām anāyatto'haṁ yad bhūriśo lokān pratipadye tadarthaṁ sarvveṣāṁ dāsatvamaṅgīkṛtavān|
Although I was entirely free, yet, to win as many converts as possible, I made myself everyone’s slave.
20 yihūdīyān yat pratipadye tadarthaṁ yihūdīyānāṁ kṛte yihūdīya̮ivābhavaṁ| ye ca vyavasthāyattāstān yat pratipadye tadarthaṁ vyavasthānāyatto yo'haṁ so'haṁ vyavasthāyattānāṁ kṛte vyavasthāyatta̮ivābhavaṁ|
To the Jews I became like a Jew, to win Jews. To those who are subject to Law I became like a man subject to Law – though I was not myself subject to Law – to win those who are subject to Law.
21 ye cālabdhavyavasthāstān yat pratipadye tadartham īśvarasya sākṣād alabdhavyavastho na bhūtvā khrīṣṭena labdhavyavastho yo'haṁ so'ham alabdhavyavasthānāṁ kṛte'labdhavyavastha ivābhavaṁ|
To those who have no Law I became like a man who has no Law – not that I am free from God’s Law; no, for I am under Christ’s Law – to win those who have no law.
22 durbbalān yat pratipadye tadarthamahaṁ durbbalānāṁ kṛte durbbala̮ivābhavaṁ| itthaṁ kenāpi prakāreṇa katipayā lokā yanmayā paritrāṇaṁ prāpnuyustadarthaṁ yo yādṛśa āsīt tasya kṛte 'haṁ tādṛśa̮ivābhavaṁ|
To the weak I became weak, to win the weak. I have become all things to all people, so as at all costs to save some.
23 idṛśa ācāraḥ susaṁvādārthaṁ mayā kriyate yato'haṁ tasya phalānāṁ sahabhāgī bhavitumicchāmi|
And I do everything for the sake of the good news, so that with them I may share in its blessings.
24 paṇyalābhārthaṁ ye dhāvanti dhāvatāṁ teṣāṁ sarvveṣāṁ kevala ekaḥ paṇyaṁ labhate yuṣmābhiḥ kimetanna jñāyate? ato yūyaṁ yathā paṇyaṁ lapsyadhve tathaiva dhāvata|
Don’t you know that on a racecourse, though all run, yet only one wins the prize? Run in such a way that you may win.
25 mallā api sarvvabhoge parimitabhogino bhavanti te tu mlānāṁ srajaṁ lipsante kintu vayam amlānāṁ lipsāmahe|
Every athlete exercises self-restraint in everything; they, indeed, for a crown that fades, we for one that is unfading.
26 tasmād ahamapi dhāvāmi kintu lakṣyamanuddiśya dhāvāmi tannahi| ahaṁ malla̮iva yudhyāmi ca kintu chāyāmāghātayanniva yudhyāmi tannahi|
I, therefore, do not run aimlessly. I do not box like a man hitting the air.
27 itarān prati susaṁvādaṁ ghoṣayitvāhaṁ yat svayamagrāhyo na bhavāmi tadarthaṁ deham āhanmi vaśīkurvve ca|
No, I bruise my body and make it my slave, so that I, who have called others to the contest, will not myself be rejected.
