Shloka 18

अध्याय १९० — वामदेव-वाम्य-वृत्तान्तः

The Vāmadeva Horses Episode and the Ethics of Promise

Devanagari script

अहं संवर्तकः सूर्यस्त्वहं संवर्तकोडनिल: । तारारूपाणि दृश्यन्ते यान्येतानि नभस्तले,मैं ही संवर्तक (प्रलयका कारण) वल्ि हूँ। मैं ही संवर्तक अनल हूँ। मैं ही संवर्तक सूर्य हूँ और मैं ही संवर्तक वायु हूँ। द्विजश्रेष्ठ आकाशमें जो ये तारे दिखायी देते हैं उन सबको मेरे ही रोमकूप समझो। रत्नाकर समुद्र और चारों दिशाओंको मेरे वस्त्र, शय्या और निवासस्थान जानो। मैंने ही देवताओंके कार्यकी सिद्धिके लिये इनकी पृथक्‌-पृथक्‌ रचना की है

Transliteration

ahaṃ saṃvartakaḥ sūryas tv ahaṃ saṃvartako 'nilaḥ | tārārūpāṇi dṛśyante yāny etāni nabhas-tale ||

Translation

神明说道：“我即是劫尽之日（Saṃvartaka 之日）；我亦是劫尽之风（Saṃvartaka 之风）。苍穹之上铺陈可见的星辰之相——当知皆不过是我自身的显现。”

Word by Word

अहम्I

संवर्तकःthe destroyer/agent of dissolution

सूर्यःthe sun

तुand/but (emphatic contrast)

अहम्I

संवर्तकःthe destroyer/agent of dissolution

अनिलःwind

तारारूपाणिstar-forms (forms of stars)

दृश्यन्तेare seen/appear

यानिwhich

एतानिthese

नभःof the sky

तलेon the surface/in the expanse

Speaker

देव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Deva (the Deity, speaker)

Saṃvartaka Sūrya (dissolution-Sun)

Saṃvartaka Anila (dissolution-Wind)

Tārāḥ (stars)

Nabhas (sky/firmament)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches the all-encompassing sovereignty of the Divine: even the great cosmic forces associated with dissolution (Saṃvartaka Sun and Wind) are expressions of one supreme reality, and the visible heavens are to be contemplated as belonging to that divine body.

What is happening in the narrative?

In a revelatory discourse, the Deity speaks in the first person, identifying itself with powerful cosmic principles and pointing to the stars in the sky as signs of its pervasive presence, thereby expanding the listener’s understanding from the human scale to the cosmic.