धर्म: पदैकेन चरन् विच्छायामुपलभ्य गाम् । पृच्छति स्माश्रुवदनां विवत्सामिव मातरम् ॥ १८ ॥
dharmah padaikena caran vicchayam upalabhya gam prcchati smasru-vadanam vivatsam iva mataram
- dharmah
- the personality of religious principles
- pada
- leg
- ekena
- on one only
- caran
- wandering
- vicchayam
- overtaken by the shadow of grief
- upalabhya
- having met
- gam
- the cow
- prcchati
- asking
- sma
- with
- asru-vadanam
- with tears on the face
- vivatsam
- one who has lost her offspring
- iva
- like
- mataram
- the mother.
The personality of religious principles, Dharma, was wandering about in the form of a bull. And he met the personality of earth in the form of a cow who appeared to grieve like a mother who had lost her child. She had tears in her eyes, and the beauty of her body was lost. Thus Dharma questioned the earth as follows.