Devanagari
धर्माणामस्मि संन्यास: क्षेमाणामबहिर्मति: ।
गुह्यानां सुनृतं मौनं मिथुनानामजस्त्वहम् ॥ २६ ॥
Verse text
dharmāṇām asmi sannyāsaḥ
kṣemāṇām abahir-matiḥ
guhyānāṁ su-nṛtaṁ maunaṁ
mithunānām ajas tv aham
Synonyms
dharmāṇām
—
among religious principles
;
asmi
—
I am
;
sannyāsaḥ
—
renunciation
;
kṣemāṇām
—
among all types of security
;
abahiḥ
—
matiḥ — awareness within (of the eternal soul)
;
guhyānām
—
of secrets
;
sunṛtam
—
pleasant speech
;
maunam
—
silence
;
mithunānām
—
of sexual pairs
;
ajaḥ
—
Brahmā, the original prajāpati
;
tu
—
indeed
;
aham
—
I am .
Translation
Among religious principles I am renunciation, and of all types of security I am consciousness of the eternal soul within. Of secrets I am pleasant speech and silence, and among sexual pairs I am Brahmā.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Among religious principles, I am renunciation, and of all types of security, I am consciousness of the eternal soul within. For maintaining secrets, I am pleasant speech and silence, and for couples indulging in sex, I am Brahmā.
There are various dharmas like sannyāsa, detachment and charity. I am sannyāsa. I am inward steadiness (abahir-matiḥ). Among secrets I am pleasing words (sunṛtam) and silence. These two do not reveal the mind of a person. This means they are most secretive. I am Prajāpati, from whose bodily halves sex arose. He is the chief couple. Śruti says ardho ha vā eṣa ātmano yat patnī: half of his self is his wife. (Baudāyana Śrauta-sūtra 29.9.381.2)
Purport
One who realizes the eternal soul within no longer fears any material situation and thus is qualified to accept the renounced order of life,
sannyāsa.
Certainly fear is one of the great miseries of material life; therefore the gift of fearlessness is very valuable and represents Lord Kṛṣṇa. Both in ordinary pleasant speech and silence, very few confidential things are revealed, and thus diplomacy and silence are both aids to secrecy. Lord Brahmā is prominent among sexual pairs because the original beautiful couple, Svāyambhuva Manu and Śatarūpā, emerged from Lord Brahmā’s body, as explained in Chapter Twelve of the Third Canto of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam.