ब्राह्मी द्वासप्ततिस्त्रेता आसीदस्ति भविष्यति । स एवाऽन्यश्च लोकाश्च त्वं चाऽहं चेति वेद्म्यहम् ॥ २५ ॥
brāhmī dvāsaptatistrētā āsīdasti bhaviṣyati | sa ēvā’nyaśca lōkāśca tvaṁ cā’haṁ cēti vēdmyaham || 25 ||
Translation
Brahmā's seventy-two Tretā ages have been, are and will be; and I know that it is the same and another: the worlds, and you, and I.
Word by word
- brāhmī
- Brahmā's
- dvāsaptatis
- (dvāsaptatiḥ) seventy-two
- trētā
- Tretā ages
- āsīd
- (āsīt) have been
- asti
- are
- bhaviṣyati
- will be
- sa
- the
- ēva
- same
- anyaś
- (anyaḥ) another
- ca
- and
- lōkāś
- (lokāḥ) the worlds
- tvaṁ
- you
- ahaṁ
- I
- iti
- thus
- vēdmy
- (vedmi) know
- aham
- I
Meaning
Vasiṣṭha now includes the two people in the conversation. Seventy-two Tretā ages, the age in which Rāma lives, make up a part of Brahmā's day; they have been, are and will be. The commentary: as in this Tretā age, so in many past Tretā ages you took the form of Rāma, and will in ages to come, without limit; I too have been Vasiṣṭha many times, am now, and will be, some like this time, some unlike. "You and I" (tvaṃ ca ahaṃ ca) are not exceptions to the waves. Rāma, who asked why Vyāsa is still here, is told that he himself has been here many times. The question is turned back on the questioner.