तारावलिरिव व्योम्नि तेजःप्रसरपाटला । सूर्यावलिरिवाऽन्योन्यं भासिताननमण्डना ॥ ८ ॥
tārāvaliriva vyōmni tējaḥprasarapāṭalā | sūryāvalirivā’nyōnyaṁ bhāsitānanamaṇḍanā || 8 ||
Translation
like a line of stars in the sky, rosy-white with the spreading of their radiance; like a line of suns, their faces lighting one another's adornment;
Word by word
- tārā
- of stars
- āvalir
- (āvaliḥ) a line
- iva
- like
- vyōmni
- in the sky
- tējaḥ
- of their radiance
- prasara
- with the spreading
- pāṭalā
- rosy-white
- sūrya
- of suns
- anyōnyaṁ
- one another's
- bhāsita
- lighting
- ānana
- their faces
- maṇḍanā
- adornment
Meaning
Now the similes of light, which the commentary keeps. The sages are like a row of stars, white and rosy (pāṭala) with the spread of their brahmic radiance (tejas, the commentary says brahmavarcas); like a row of suns, each face lighting up the others. The second image is the finer: each one's light makes the others shine. A company of the wise is not a collection of separate lamps; their light is mutual. The reader may think of the people whose company makes them brighter, and those they make brighter in turn.