SB 2.1.30 · Srimad Bhagavatam

Devanagari

द्यौरक्षिणी चक्षुरभूत्पतङ्ग: पक्ष्माणि विष्णोरहनी उभे च । तद्भ्रूविजृम्भ: परमेष्ठिधिष्ण्य- मापोऽस्य तालु रस एव जिह्वा ॥ ३० ॥

Verse text

dyaur akṣiṇī cakṣur abhūt pataṅgaḥ pakṣmāṇi viṣṇor ahanī ubhe ca tad-bhrū-vijṛmbhaḥ parameṣṭhi-dhiṣṇyam āpo ’sya tālū rasa eva jihvā

Synonyms

dyauḥ — the sphere of outer space ; akṣiṇī — the eyeballs ; cakṣuḥ — of eyes (senses) ; abhūt — it so became ; pataṅgaḥ — the sun ; pakṣmāṇi — eyelids ; viṣṇoḥ — of the Personality of Godhead, Śrī Viṣṇu ; ahanī — day and night ; ubhe — both ; ca — and ; tat — His ; bhrū — eyebrows ; vijṛmbhaḥ — movements ; parameṣṭhi — the supreme entity (Brahmā) ; dhiṣṇyam — post ; āpaḥ — Varuṇa, the director of water ; asya — His ; tālū — palate ; rasaḥ — juice ; eva — certainly ; jihvā — the tongue .

Translation

The sphere of outer space constitutes His eyepits, and the eyeball is the sun as the power of seeing. His eyelids are both the day and night, and in the movements of His eyebrows, Brahmā and similar supreme personalities reside. His palate is the director of water, Varuṇa, and the juice or essence of everything is His tongue.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

The sun devatā arises from his eyes and the form arises from his eyes. The day and night are the eyelashes of the form. The abode of Brahmā is the movement of his brow. Varuṇa arises from his palate, and taste arises from his tongue.

Purport

To common sense the description in this verse appears to be somewhat contradictory because sometimes the sun has been described as the eyeball and sometimes as the outer space sphere. But there is no room for common sense in the injunctions of the śāstras. We must accept the description of the śāstras and concentrate more on the form of the virāṭ-rūpa than on common sense. Common sense is always imperfect, whereas the description in the śāstras is always perfect and complete. If there is any incongruity, it is due to our imperfection and not the śāstras’. That is the method of approaching Vedic wisdom.

Commentary (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

Dyauh means the heavens. This means that the sun in the heavens is his two eye balls. The sky stands for the sun, just as , when we say “The pavilions screamed” we mean “The people in the pavilions screamed.” Form, the sense object of sight, is his organ of sight. Pataṅga means brilliant form, not the sun. Otherwise this would contradict later statements. It is said rūpāṇāṁ tejasāṁ cakṣur divaḥ sūryaysa cākṣiṇī: his eyes are related to brilliant forms and his eye balls are related to the sun. (SB 2.6.3) etad vai pauruṣaṁ rūpaṁ bhūḥ pādau dyauḥ śiro nabhaḥ | nābhiḥ sūryo 'kṣiṇī nāse vāyuḥ karṇau diśaḥ prabhoḥ || This is the representation of the Supreme Lord as the universal person, in which the earth is his feet, the heavens are his head, the antariṣka is his navel, the sun devatā is his eye balls, the wind devatā is his nostrils, the direction devatās are his ears. SB 12.11.6 Ahanī means day and night. Day can also mean night, by the logic of combining forms which always go together. Parameṣṭhi-dhiṣṇyam means the abode of Brahmā. Āpaḥ is Varuṇa. The palate is the place of taste and the tongue is the sense organ of taste.