अनन्तापारपर्यन्तबद्धपीठं निजं वपुः । महाशैलवदुत्तुङ्गमवलम्ब्य व्यवस्थितः ॥ २९ ॥
anantāpāraparyantabaddhapīṭhaṁ nijaṁ vapuḥ | mahāśailavaduttuṅgamavalambya vyavasthitaḥ || 29 ||
Translation
It stands, resting on its own body, as lofty as a great mountain, whose base is set in the endless and boundless.
Word by word
- ananta
- in the endless
- apāra
- and boundless
- paryanta
- to the limit
- baddha
- is set
- pīṭhaṁ
- whose base
- nijaṁ
- its own
- vapuḥ
- body
- mahā
- great
- śailavad
- (śailavat) as a mountain
- uttuṅgam
- lofty
- avalambya
- resting on
- vyavasthitaḥ
- it stands
Meaning
Time stands like a mountain, the commentaries say, its seat in the infinite Brahman without beginning or end. The image corrects the earlier ones: Time is not self-supporting; it rests on what is endless. The reader is pointed beyond Time to its ground.