Srimad Bhagavatam Canto 11 Chapter 21 Verses 38-40

Canto 11: General History | Chapter 21: Lord Kṛṣṇa's Explanation of the Vedic Path

Bhaktivedanta VedaBase: Śrīmad Bhāgavatam 11.21.38-40

yathorṇanābhir hṛdayād

ūrṇām udvamate mukhāt

ākāśād ghoṣavān prāṇo

manasā sparśa-rūpiṇā

chando-mayo 'mṛta-mayaḥ

sahasra-padavīḿ prabhuḥ

oḿkārād vyañjita-sparśa-

svaroṣmāntastha-bhūṣitām

vicitra-bhāṣā-vitatāḿ

chandobhiś catur-uttaraiḥ

ananta-pārāḿ bṛhatīḿ

sṛjaty ākṣipate svayam

SYNONYMS

yathā — just as; ūrṇa-nābhiḥ — a spider; hṛdayāt — from its heart; ūrṇām — its web; udvamate — emits; mukhāt — through its mouth; ākāśāt — from the ether; ghoṣa-vān — manifesting sound vibration; prāṇaḥ — the Lord in the form of the original life air; manasā — by means of the primeval mind; sparśa-rūpiṇā — which exhibits the forms of the different phonemes of the alphabet, beginning with the sparśa letters; chandaḥ-mayaḥ — comprising all the sacred Vedic meters; amṛta-mayaḥ — full of transcendental pleasure; sahasra-padavīm — which branches out in thousands of directions; prabhuḥ — the Supreme Personality of Godhead; oḿkārāt — from the subtle vibration oḿkāra; vyañjita — expanded; sparśa — with the consonant stops; svara — vowels; uṣma — sibilants; anta-stha — and semivowels; bhūṣitām — decorated; vicitra — variegated; bhāṣā — by verbal expressions; vitatām — elaborated; chandobhiḥ — along with the metrical arrangements; catuḥ-uttaraiḥ — each having four syllables more than the previous; ananta-pārām — limitless; bṛhatīm — the great expanse of Vedic literature; sṛjati — He creates; ākṣipate — and withdraws; svayam — Himself.

TRANSLATION

Just as a spider brings forth from its heart its web and emits it through its mouth, the Supreme Personality of Godhead manifests Himself as the reverberating primeval vital air, comprising all sacred Vedic meters and full of transcendental pleasure. Thus the Lord, from the ethereal sky of His heart, creates the great and limitless Vedic sound by the agency of His mind, which conceives of variegated sounds such as the sparśas. The Vedic sound branches out in thousands of directions, adorned with the different letters expanded from the syllable oḿ: the consonants, vowels, sibilants and semivowels. The Veda is then elaborated by many verbal varieties, expressed in different meters, each having four more syllables than the previous one. Ultimately the Lord again withdraws His manifestation of Vedic sound within Himself.

PURPORT

Śrīla Śrīdhara Svāmī has given an elaborate technical explanation of these three verses, the understanding of which requires extensive linguistic knowledge of the Sanskrit language. The essential point is that transcendental knowledge is expressed through Vedic sound vibration, which is itself a manifestation of the Absolute Truth, the Personality of Godhead. Vedic sound emanates from the Supreme Lord and is vibrated to glorify and understand Him. The conclusion of all Vedic sound vibration is found in Bhagavad-gītā, wherein the Lord states, vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ: [Bg. 15.15] all Vedic knowledge is simply meant to teach us to know and love God. One who always thinks of Lord Kṛṣṇa, who becomes the Lord's devotee and who bows down to and worships the Lord with faith and devotion, chanting His holy name, has certainly achieved a perfect understanding of all that is indicated by the word veda ("knowledge").

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