Text 6 |
Answers by Citing the Lord's Version
467
TEXT 6
स चिन्तयन् द्व्यक्षरमेकदाम्भ- स्युपाभृणोद् द्विर्गदितं वचो विभुः । स्पर्शेषु यत्पोडशमेकविंशं निष्किञ्चनानां नृप यद् धनं विदुः ॥ ६ ॥
sa cintayan dvyakṣaramekadāmbhasy upāśṛṇod dvir-gaditam vaco vibhuḥ sparśeṣu yat ṣoḍaśam ekaviṁśam niṣkiñcanānām nṛpa yad dhanam viduḥ
saḥ—he; cintayan—while thus thinking; dvi—two; akṣaram—syllables; ekadā—once upon a time; ambhasi—in the water; upāśṛṇot—heard it nearby; dviḥ—twice; gaditam—uttered; vacaḥ—words; vibhuḥ—the great; sparśeṣu—of the sparśa letters; yat—which; ṣoḍaśam—the sixteenth; ekaviṁśam—and the twenty-first; niṣkiñcanānām—of the renounced order of life; nṛpa—O King; yat—what is; dhanam—wealth; viduḥ—as it is known.
TRANSLATION
While thus engaged in thinking, in the water, Brahmājī heard twice from nearby two syllables joined together. One of the syllables was taken from the sixteenth and the other from the twenty-first of the sparśa alphabets, and both joined to become the wealth of the renounced order of life.
PURPORT
In Sanskrit language, the consonant alphabets are divided into two divisions, namely the  sparśa-varṇas  and the  tālavya-varṇas . From  ka  to  ma  the letters are known as the  sparśa-varṇas , and the sixteenth of the group is called  ta , whereas the twenty-first letter is called  pa . So when they are joined together, the word  tapa , or penance, is constructed. This penance is the beauty and wealth of the  brāhmaṇas  and the renounced order of life. According to  Bhāgavata  philosophy, every human being is meant simply for this  tapa  and for no other business, because by penance only can one realize his self; and self-realization, and not sense gratification, is the