अनिखातमहास्तम्भपुत्रिकौघसमोपमः । ब्रह्माकाशेऽनिखातात्मा सुस्तम्भे शालभञ्जिका ॥ ६ ॥
anikhātamahāstambhaputrikaughasamōpamaḥ | brahmākāśē’nikhātātmā sustambhē śālabhañjikā || 6 ||
Translation
It is like the many figures in a great uncarved pillar: in the space of Brahman, a self uncarved, a statue in a fine pillar.
Word by word
- anikhāta
- uncarved
- mahā
- great
- stambha
- in a pillar
- putrikā
- figures
- ōgha
- the many
- samōpamaḥ
- like
- brahma
- of Brahman
- ākāśē
- in the space
- ātmā
- a self
- su
- fine
- stambhē
- in a pillar
- śālabhañjikā
- a statue
Meaning
Another commentary: like the host of figures in a great pillar that has not been carved, so in the space of Brahman is this Virāṭ form, like an uncarved image in a fine pillar. The same image was used of Brahman at the dissolution (3.10.7, 9): the figures are "in" the pillar only as possibilities a sculptor might see; nothing has been cut out of it.