Devanagari
अङ्गुष्ठमात्रममलं स्फुरत्पुरटमौलिनम् ।
अपीव्यदर्शनं श्यामं तडिद्वाससमच्युतम् ॥ ८ ॥
Verse text
aṅguṣṭha-mātram amalaṁ
sphurat-puraṭa-maulinam
apīvya-darśanaṁ śyāmaṁ
taḍid vāsasam acyutam
Synonyms
aṅguṣṭha
—
by the measure of a thumb
;
mātram
—
only
;
amalam
—
transcendental
;
sphurat
—
blazing
;
puraṭa
—
gold
;
maulinam
—
helmet
;
apīvya
—
very beautiful
;
darśanam
—
to look at
;
śyāmam
—
blackish
;
taḍit
—
lightning
;
vāsasam
—
clothing
;
acyutam
—
the Infallible (the Lord) .
Translation
He [the Lord] was only thumb high, but He was all transcendental. He had a very beautiful, blackish, infallible body, and He wore a dress of lightning yellow and a helmet of blazing gold. Thus He was seen by the child.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
That pure, indestructible, beautiful form was the size of a thumb, dark in complexion, wearing cloth flashing like lightning, with a shining gold crown.
Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Though the Lord extends in all directions, he arranged to become the size of the thumb simply because he became situated in the womb. Actually he saw the Lord of that size in that particular place only by the inconceivable power of the Lord. There is no other reason for this. Later one it is said:
sa eṣa loke vikhyātaḥ parīkṣid iti yat prabhuḥ |
pūrvaṁ dṛṣṭam anudhyāyan parīkṣeta nareṣv iha ||
Because he constantly remembered the Lord whom he had seen in the womb and searched for him among all men, he was famous Parīkṣit in this world. SB 1.12.39
He would not look among men to find that form if it had actually only been the size of a thumb.
The form he saw was most beautiful (apīvya-darśanam). He wore a gold crown. Maulin is formed from mauli (crown) in the class of words like vrīhī. He was dark in complexion and wearing cloth shining like lightning. This indicates that his form, like a rain cloud ornamented with lightning, had suddenly appeared in the sky of Uttarā’s womb to save the young elephant Parīkṣit who was being burned by the forest fire of the brahmāstra.