Verse 15

Sita

Sanskrit (Devanagari)

अग्निरूपा अन्नपानादिप्राणिनां क्षुत्तृष्णात्मिका देवानां मुखरूपा वनौषधीनां शीतोष्णरूपा काष्ठेष्वन्तर्बहिश्च नित्यानित्यरूपा भवति॥१५॥

Padapatha (Word Split)

अग्नि-रूपा । अन्न-पान-आदि-प्राणिनाम् । क्षुत्-तृष्णा-आत्मिका । देवा-नाम् । मुख-रूपा । वन-औषधी-नाम् । शीत-उष्ण-रूपा । काष्ठेषु । अन्तः । बहिः । च । नित्य-अनित्य-रूपा । भवति ।

IAST Transliteration

agnirūpā annapānādiprāṇināṃ kṣuttṛṣṇātmikā devānāṃ mukharūpā vanauṣadhīnāṃ śītoṣṇarūpā kāṣṭheṣv antar bahiś ca nityānityarūpā bhavati ||15||

Translation

As the form of Agni, for living beings dependent on food, drink, and the like, she is of the nature of hunger and thirst; for the gods, she is of the form of the mouth; for forest plants and herbs, she is of the form of cold and heat; and in pieces of wood, within and without, she becomes the forms of the eternal and the non-eternal.

Academic Translation

As of the form of Agni, she is, for living beings (dependent on) food, drink, and the like, of the nature of hunger and thirst; for the gods, of the form of the mouth; for forest-plants and herbs, of the form of cold and heat; in pieces of wood, both within and without, she becomes of the forms of the eternal and the non-eternal.

Verse Context

• Agni/Tejas as Śakti; prāṇa and yajña as cosmic exchange; māyā’s mutable forms grounded in an underlying power
• Mahavakya: Indirect: supports ‘ahaṃ brahmāsmi’/‘tat tvam asi’ contemplations by tracing bodily drives (hunger/thirst) and ritual fire back to a single divine power; not an explicit mahāvākya.
• Atharva
• Chandas: Prose