Devanagari
योऽर्केन्द्वग्नीन्द्रवायूनां यमधर्मप्रचेतसाम् ।
रूपाणि स्थान आधत्से तस्मै शुक्लाय ते नम: ॥ ५१ ॥
Verse text
yo ’rkendv-agnīndra-vāyūnāṁ
yama-dharma-pracetasām
rūpāṇi sthāna ādhatse
tasmai śuklāya te namaḥ
Synonyms
yaḥ
—
you who
;
arka
—
of the sun
;
indu
—
of the moon
;
agni
—
of Agni, the fire-god
;
indra
—
of Indra, the lord of heaven
;
vāyūnām
—
of Vāyu, the wind-god
;
yama
—
of Yama, the god of punishment
;
dharma
—
of Dharma, the god of piety
;
pracetasām
—
and of Varuṇa, the god of the waters
;
rūpāṇi
—
the forms
;
sthāne
—
when necessary
;
ādhatse
—
you assume
;
tasmai
—
unto Him
;
śuklāya
—
unto Lord Viṣṇu
;
te
—
unto you
;
namaḥ
—
obeisances .
Translation
When necessary, You assume the part of the sun-god; the moon-god; Agni, the god of fire; Indra, the lord of paradise; Vāyu, the wind-god; Yama, the god of punishment; Dharma, the god of piety; and Varuṇa, the god presiding over the waters. All obeisances to you, who are none other than Lord Viṣṇu!
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
I offer respects to you, a pure being, who suitably take the form of the sun, moon, fire, Indra, Vāyu, Yama, Dharma and Varuṇa.
You completely (ā) accept the forms of the sun and others in a suitable way (sthane). You are the sun because of your majesty. You are the moon because of your fame. You are fire because of your invincibility. You are Indra because of your lordship. You are Vāyu because you enter everywhere. You are Yama because you punish the sinful. You are Dharma because you protect the righteous. You are Varuṇa because you are deep and have hidden treasure. Therefore I offer respects to you, the Lord in another form, who have come to my cottage
Purport
Since the sage Kardama was a
brāhmaṇa
and Svāyambhuva was a
kṣatriya,
the sage was not supposed to offer obeisances to the King because socially his position was greater than the King’s. But he offered his obeisances to Svāyambhuva Manu because as Manu, king and emperor, he was the representative of the Supreme Lord. The Supreme Lord is always worshipable, regardless of whether one is a
brāhmaṇa,
a
kṣatriya
or a
śūdra.
As the representative of the Supreme Lord, the King deserved respectful obeisances from everyone.