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Shloka 7

Adhyāya 51: Kṛṣṇa’s Leave-Taking and Departure for Dvārakā (द्वारकागमनानुमति)

अव्यक्तादि विशेषान्तं सहस्थावरजड्रमम्‌ । सूर्यचन्द्रप्रभालोकं ग्रहनक्षत्रमण्डितम्‌

avyaktādi-viśeṣāntaṁ saha-sthāvara-jaḍa-dramam | sūrya-candra-prabhā-lokaṁ graha-nakṣatra-maṇḍitam | idaṁ jagad ekaṁ brahma-vanaṁ | avyakta-prakṛtir asyādaḥ | pañca-mahābhūta-daśendriyāṇi caikaṁ mana iti ṣoḍaśa-viśeṣaiḥ asya vistāraḥ | idaṁ carācara-prāṇibhir pūrṇam | sūrya-candrādi-prakāśaiḥ prakāśitam | graha-nakṣatraiḥ suśobhitam | nadī-parvata-saṅghaiḥ sarvato vibhūṣitam | nānā-vidha-jalaiḥ sadālaṅkṛtam | etat sarva-bhūtānāṁ jīvanaṁ sarva-prāṇināṁ ca gatiḥ | asmin brahma-vane kṣetrajñaś carati |

Vāyu dit : « Cet univers est une seule forêt de Brahman. Son commencement est la Prakṛti non manifestée (avyakta), et son déploiement s’étend jusqu’aux principes distincts : les cinq grands éléments, les dix sens et l’unique mental — seize en tout. Il est rempli d’êtres mobiles et immobiles. Il est illuminé par l’éclat du soleil et de la lune, paré de planètes et de constellations ; embelli de toutes parts par des ensembles de rivières et de montagnes, et sans cesse orné d’eaux de maintes sortes. Telle est la vie de tous les êtres et la marche de toutes les créatures. Dans cette forêt de Brahman, le Connaisseur du Champ (kṣetrajña) erre. »

अव्यक्तादिhaving the unmanifest as the beginning
अव्यक्तादि:
Karma
TypeAdjective
Rootअव्यक्त + आदि
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
विशेषान्तम्ending in the (sixteen) specifics/tattvas
विशेषान्तम्:
Karma
TypeAdjective
Rootविशेष + अन्त
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
सहtogether with
सह:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootसह
स्थावरwith the immobile (beings)
स्थावर:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootस्थावर
FormNeuter, Instrumental, Singular
जङ्गमम्the mobile (beings)
जङ्गमम्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootजङ्गम
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
सूर्यचन्द्रप्रभालोकम्illumined by the light of the sun and moon
सूर्यचन्द्रप्रभालोकम्:
Karma
TypeAdjective
Rootसूर्य + चन्द्र + प्रभा + लोक
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
ग्रहby planets
ग्रह:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootग्रह
FormMasculine, Instrumental, Plural
नक्षत्रby stars/asterisms
नक्षत्र:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootनक्षत्र
FormNeuter, Instrumental, Plural
मण्डितम्adorned
मण्डितम्:
Karma
TypeAdjective
Rootमण्डित (from √मण्ड्/मण्ड् ‘to adorn’)
FormNeuter, Accusative, Singular
यत्which
यत्:
Karta
TypePronoun
Rootयद्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
जगत्the world
जगत्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootजगत्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
एकम्one/single
एकम्:
Karta
TypeAdjective
Rootएक
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
ब्रह्मवनम्the forest of Brahman (cosmic forest)
ब्रह्मवनम्:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootब्रह्म + वन
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
अस्तिis
अस्ति:
TypeVerb
Root√अस्
FormPresent, 3, Singular

वायुदेव उवाच

V
Vāyudeva (Wind-god)
B
Brahman
P
Prakṛti (the unmanifest)
S
Sūrya (Sun)
C
Candra (Moon)
G
Grahas (planets)
N
Nakṣatras (constellations/lunar mansions)
R
Rivers
M
Mountains
K
Kṣetrajña (Knower of the Field)

Educational Q&A

The verse presents the cosmos as a ‘forest of Brahman’: an all-encompassing field arising from unmanifest Prakṛti and structured through key principles (elements, senses, mind). Within this vast, ornamented universe, the kṣetrajña—the conscious self—moves as an experiencer/witness, pointing toward self-knowledge and discernment between consciousness and nature.

Vāyudeva is instructing the listener by describing the universe in a vivid, poetic cosmological image. He reframes the world’s diversity (sun, moon, stars, rivers, mountains, beings) as a single coherent domain, preparing a philosophical reflection on the self (kṣetrajña) that traverses and experiences this ‘field’.