श्रीवसिष्ठ उवाच । नभःस्थलाद् गिरिग्रामं गच्छन्त्यौ कञ्चिदेव ते । ज्ञप्तिचित्तस्थितं भूमितलं ददृशतुः स्त्रियौ ॥ १ ॥
śrīvasiṣṭha uvāca | nabhaḥsthalād girigrāmaṁ gacchantyau kañcidēva tē | jñapticittasthitaṁ bhūmitalaṁ dadṛśatuḥ striyau || 1 ||
- Another reading: कश्चिदेव (kaścidēva) for कञ्चिदेव
Translation
Vasiṣṭha said: Going from the region of the sky to the mountain village, the two women saw a certain earth that stood in the mind of the goddess of knowing.
Word by word
- nabhaḥ
- of the sky
- sthalād
- (sthalāt) from the region
- giri
- mountain
- grāmaṁ
- to the village
- gacchantyau
- going
- kañcid
- (kañcit) a certain
- ēva
- just
- tē
- the two
- jñapti
- of the goddess of knowing
- citta
- in the mind
- sthitaṁ
- that stood
- bhūmitalaṁ
- earth
- dadṛśatuḥ
- saw
- striyau
- women
Meaning
The earth they see is not out there in front of them: it stands in the mind of Jñapti, the goddess of knowing, Sarasvatī. What follows is the Purāṇic picture of the earth, its continents and seas; but the verse has said at the start where that picture is, in awareness. Another commentary: going from the sky towards the mountain village, the two saw some unheard-of earth standing in the mind of knowing.