Man cannot be satisfied by wealth. If we were ever to see it, we would live only for a moment.

Naciketas exposes the fundamental problem of material pursuit: its inherent insatiability. The verse uses the term tarpanīyaḥ (that which can be satisfied), negated by na, to indicate that human desire has no limit that can be filled by external possessions.

The structure lapsyāma…adrākṣīma (we will obtain…we will see) suggests the illusion of future possession. We are always projecting satisfaction into the future: “when I have this, then I will be happy.” But that moment never arrives, or when it does, we have already moved our goal.

The verse concludes with the poetic observation that even if we were to see all the desired wealth, eva vā (only a moment). The satisfaction would be ephemeral, momentary. The pleasure derived from objects of the senses is like water that momentarily quenches but generates more thirst.

This observation anticipates Buddhist psychology of tṛṣṇā (thirst, attachment) and Vedāntic philosophy of mithyā (appearance). What we seek in external objects is not really in them; it is in our own being, which is inherent ānanda (bliss). To seek bliss outside is a fundamental error (mithyā-jñāna) that perpetuates the cycle of birth and death.