श्रवदन्तरसग्रस्तो हस्तपादसुपल्लवः । गुल्मवान् कार्यसङ्घातो विहङ्गमकृतास्पदः ॥ ७ ॥
śravadantarasagrastō hastapādasupallavaḥ | gulmavān kāryasaṅghātō vihaṅgamakṛtāspadaḥ || 7 ||
Translation
its ears pecked by the woodpecker, its hands and feet fine leaves, with bushes, a mass of tasks, the home of birds:
Word by word
- śrava
- its ears
- dantara
- by the woodpecker
- sagrastō
- (sagrastaḥ) pecked
- hasta
- its hands
- pāda
- and feet
- su
- fine
- pallavaḥ
- leaves
- gulmavān
- with bushes
- kārya
- of tasks
- saṅghātō
- (saṅghātaḥ) a mass
- vihaṅgama
- of birds
- kṛta
- made
- āspadaḥ
- the home
Meaning
The ears are holes pecked in the bark, as by a woodpecker; hands and feet are leaves; the hair and sicknesses are bushes and creepers around it; it is a mass of tasks; and it is the home of birds. The commentary recalls the Upaniṣad's image of two birds on one tree (dvā suparṇā): the individual self and the Lord dwell in the body as two birds on a single tree, one eating the fruit, the other only watching. The reader is reminded who lives in this tree: not one bird, but two, and the second is the witness.