क इह नु वेद बतावरजन्मलयोऽग्रसरं यत उदगादृषिर्यमनु देवगणा उभये । तर्हि न सन्न चासदुभयं न च कालजव: किमपि न तत्र शास्त्रमवकृष्य शयीत यदा ॥ २४ ॥
ka iha nu veda batāvara-janma-layo ’gra-saraṁ yata udagād ṛṣir yam anu deva-gaṇā ubhaye tarhi na san na cāsad ubhayaṁ na ca kāla-javaḥ kim api na tatra śāstram avakṛṣya śayīta yadā
- kaḥ
- who
- iha
- in this world
- nu
- indeed
- veda
- knows
- bata
- ah
- avara
- recent
- janma
- whose birth
- layaḥ
- and annihilation
- agra-saram
- who came first
- yataḥ
- from whom
- udagāt
- arose
- ṛṣiḥ
- the learned sage, Brahmā
- yam anu
- following whom (Brahmā)
- deva-gaṇāḥ
- the groups of demigods
- ubhaye
- both (those who control the senses and those who live in the regions above the heavenly planets)
- tarhi
- at that time
- na
- no
- sat
- gross matter
- na
- no
- ca
- also
- asat
- subtle matter
- ubhayam
- that which is comprised of both (namely, the material bodies)
- na ca
- nor
- kāla
- of time
- javaḥ
- the flow
- kim api na
- none at all
- tatra
- there
- śāstram
- authoritative scripture
- avakṛṣya
- withdrawing
- śayīta
- (the Supreme Lord) lies down
- yadā
- when
Everyone in this world has recently been born and will soon die. So how can anyone here know Him who existed prior to everything else and who gave rise to the first learned sage, Brahmā, and all subsequent demigods, both lesser and greater? When He lies down and withdraws everything within Himself, nothing else remains — no gross or subtle matter or bodies composed of these, no force of time or revealed scripture.