आदावेव हि नोत्पन्नं यत्तस्येहाऽस्तिता कुतः । कुतो मरौ जलसरिद् द्वितीयेन्दौ कुतो ग्रहः ॥ ४२ ॥
ādāvēva hi nōtpannaṁ yattasyēhā’stitā kutaḥ | kutō marau jalasarid dvitīyēndau kutō grahaḥ || 42 ||
Translation
What was never born in the beginning, how can it exist here? How is there a river of water in a desert? How is a second moon grasped?
Word by word
- ādau
- in the beginning
- ēva
- ever
- hi
- indeed
- na
- never
- utpannaṁ
- born
- yat
- what
- tasya
- its
- iha
- here
- astitā
- existence
- kutaḥ
- how can there be
- kutō
- (kutaḥ) how
- marau
- in a desert
- jala
- of water
- sarid
- (sarit) a river
- dvitīyēndau
- in a second moon
- grahaḥ
- grasping
Meaning
What was never born cannot be taken as existing, the commentary says. A river in the desert, a second moon seen by pressing the eye: both appear, and neither exists.