Devanagari
आयुर्वेदं धनुर्वेदं गान्धर्वं वेदमात्मन: ।
स्थापत्यं चासृजद् वेदं क्रमात्पूर्वादिभिर्मुखै: ॥ ३८ ॥
Verse text
āyur-vedaṁ dhanur-vedaṁ
gāndharvaṁ vedam ātmanaḥ
sthāpatyaṁ cāsṛjad vedaṁ
kramāt pūrvādibhir mukhaiḥ
Synonyms
āyuḥ
—
vedam — medical science
;
dhanuḥ
—
vedam — military science
;
gāndharvam
—
musical art
;
vedam
—
they are all Vedic knowledge
;
ātmanaḥ
—
of his own
;
sthāpatyam
—
architectural
;
ca
—
also
;
asṛjat
—
created
;
vedam
—
knowledge
;
kramāt
—
respectively
;
pūrva
—
ādibhiḥ — beginning from the front face
;
mukhaiḥ
—
by the mouths .
Translation
He also created the medical science, military art, musical art and architectural science, all from the Vedas. They all emanated one after another, beginning from the front face.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Brahmā created ayurveda (medicine), dhaur-veda (military science), gāndharva veda (music) and ṣthapatya (architecture) from his mouths starting from the eastern mouth.
This verse describes the creation of the Upavedas. Sthāpatyam refers to the activities of architects, which are described in Viśvakarma-śāstra.
Purport
The
Vedas
contain perfect knowledge, which includes all kinds of knowledge necessary for the human society, not only on this particular planet but on other planets as well. It is understood that military art is also necessary knowledge for the upkeep of social order, as is the art of music. All these groups of knowledge are called the
Upapurāṇa,
or supplements of the
Vedas.
Spiritual knowledge is the main topic of the
Vedas,
but to help the human being’s spiritual pursuit of knowledge, the other information, as above mentioned, forms necessary branches of the Vedic knowledge.