Shloka 34

सत्य–अनृत, प्रकाश–तमस्, स्वर्ग–नरक विवेचनम्

Truth and Untruth as Light and Darkness; Svarga and Naraka as Ethical Consequences

Devanagari script

यदा तु दिव्यं तद्‌ रूप॑ हसते वर्धते पुन: । कोडन्यस्तद्वेदितुं शक्तो योडपि स्यात्‌ तद्विधोडपर:

Transliteration

yadā tu divyaṁ tad rūpaṁ hasate vardhate punaḥ | ko ’nyas tad vedituṁ śakto yo ’pi syāt tadvidho ’paraḥ ||

Translation

婆罗陀婆阇说道：当那神圣的形相——凭其自身的摩耶之力——有时极其微细，有时又复广大无边之时，除祂之外，还有谁能真正知晓其确切的尺度？实无其人：纵使有众生似乎同样光耀，也终不能彻悟那至上奇妙形相的真实广大。

Word by Word

• {'yadā': 'when', 'tu': 'but/indeed', 'divyam': 'divine, celestial', 'rūpam': 'form, appearance, manifestation', 'hasate': 'becomes small

• diminishes (in size)', 'vardhate': 'grows, increases, expands', 'punaḥ': 'again', 'kaḥ anyaḥ (ko ’nyaḥ)': 'who else, what other (person/being)', 'tat': 'that (form/reality)', 'veditum': 'to know, to ascertain', 'śaktaḥ': 'able, capable', 'api': 'even', 'syāt': 'might be, could be', 'tadvidhaḥ': 'of that kind, similar to that', 'aparaḥ': 'another, second, different'}

Speaker

भरद्वाज उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Bharadvāja
• the Supreme Lord (Paramātman/Īśvara implied)
• māyā (implied as the power causing contraction/expansion)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the limitation of finite cognition before the Supreme: the divine form can contract and expand through its own power, so no separate being can definitively measure or fully comprehend it. The ethical implication is humility—recognizing the bounds of one’s knowledge and approaching the divine with reverence rather than presumption.

What is happening in the narrative?

Bharadvāja is describing the wondrous, variable nature of the Lord’s divine manifestation. By pointing out that it can become minute or immense at will, he argues that no other distinct entity can accurately determine its true magnitude—underscoring the Lord’s incomparability.