रुद्रो भूत्वा भवत्येष महेन्द्रोऽथ पितामहः । शक्रो वैश्रवणश्चाऽपि पुनरेव न किंचन ॥ २४ ॥
rudrō bhūtvā bhavatyēṣa mahēndrō’tha pitāmahaḥ | śakrō vaiśravaṇaścā’pi punarēva na kiṁcana || 24 ||
Translation
Becoming Rudra, it is; then it is the great Indra, then the Grandsire; Śakra and Vaiśravaṇa too; and then again it is nothing at all.
Word by word
- rudrō
- (rudraḥ) Rudra
- bhūtvā
- becoming
- bhavati
- it is
- ēṣa
- it
- mahā
- the great
- indrō
- (indraḥ) Indra
- atha
- then
- pitāmahaḥ
- the Grandsire
- śakrō
- (śakraḥ) Śakra
- vaiśravaṇaś
- (vaiśravaṇaḥ) Vaiśravaṇa
- ca
- and
- api
- too
- punar
- (punaḥ) then
- ēva
- again
- na
- not
- kiṁcana
- anything at all
Meaning
Time takes the form of Rudra, of Indra, of Brahmā the Grandsire, of Kubera the lord of wealth: every great divine office is a role it plays for an age. And then it becomes "nothing at all" (na kiñcana): at the dissolution, the commentary says, it comes to rest. Even the gods are faces Time wears for a while. The reader is shown that the highest positions in the universe are temporary.