धत्तेऽजस्रोत्थितो ध्वस्तान् सर्गानमितभास्वरान् । अन्यान्दधद्दिवानक्तं वीचीरब्धिरिवाऽऽत्मनि ॥ २५ ॥
dhattē’jasrōtthitō dhvastān sargānamitabhāsvarān | anyāndadhaddivānaktaṁ vīcīrabdhirivā’’tmani || 25 ||
Translation
Ever risen, it holds creations already destroyed, beyond measure in their splendour, and bears others day and night within itself, as the ocean its waves.
Word by word
- dhattē
- it holds
- ajasra
- ever
- utthitō
- (utthitaḥ) risen
- dhvastān
- already destroyed
- sargān
- creations
- amita
- beyond measure
- bhāsvarān
- in their splendour
- anyān
- others
- dadhad
- (dadhat) bears
- divā
- day
- naktaṁ
- and night
- vīcīr
- (vīcīḥ) its waves
- abdhir
- (abdhiḥ) the ocean
- iva
- as
- ātmani
- within itself
Meaning
The sea always holds old waves sinking and new ones rising. Time is always awake (ajasrotthita) and holds in itself the countless brilliant creations it has destroyed (dhvastān), while it brings forth others. The image moves the reader from Time as a destroyer to Time as an ocean: what perishes sinks back into it, and what arises comes from it.