स यो बलं ब्रह्मेत्युपास्ते यावद्बलस्य गतं तत्रास्य यथाकामचारो भवति यो बलं ब्रह्मेत्युपास्तेऽस्ति भगवो बलाद्भूय इति बलाद्वाव भूयोऽस्तीति तन्मे भगवान्ब्रवीत्विति ॥ ७.८.२ ॥
॥ इति अष्टमः खण्डः ॥sa yo balaṃ brahmetyupāste yāvadbalasya gataṃ tatrāsya yathākāmacāro bhavati yo balaṃ brahmetyupāste’sti bhagavo balādbhūya iti balādvāva bhūyo’stīti tanme bhagavānbravītviti || 7.8.2 ||
|| iti aṣṭamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ ||2. ‘One who worships strength as Brahman can do what he pleases within the limits of strength.’ Nārada asked, ‘Sir, is there anything higher than strength?’ ‘Of course there is something higher than strength,’.
Word-for-word explanation:
Saḥ yaḥ, he who; balam brahma iti upāste, worships strength as Brahman; yāvat balasya gatam, as far as strength goes; tatra, that far; asya yathā-kāmacāraḥ bhavati, as he wishes he can go; yaḥ balam brahma iti upāste, he who worships strength as Brahman; bhagavaḥ, sir; balāt bhūyaḥ asti iti, is there anything higher than strength; balāt vāva bhūyaḥ asti iti, there is certainly something higher than strength; bhagavāṃ sir; tat me bravītu iti, please explain it to me. Iti aṣṭamaḥ khaṇḍaḥ, here ends the eighth section.
Commentary:
Strength here means strength produced by food. If you starve, you become weak and then you do not understand the scriptures. Perhaps your teacher will ask you to recite something from the scriptures, but you won’t be able to because of your weakness from fasting. A strong person, however, can please his teacher by his enthusiasm and service. He can also carry out his teacher’s instructions to the latter’s satisfaction. By virtue of his strength, he becomes an ideal person in all respects.