Devanagari
मां विपाट्याजरां नावं यत्र विश्वं प्रतिष्ठितम्
आत्मानं च प्रजाश्चेमा: कथमम्भसि धास्यसि ॥ २१ ॥
Verse text
māṁ vipāṭyājarāṁ nāvaṁ
yatra viśvaṁ pratiṣṭhitam
ātmānaṁ ca prajāś cemāḥ
katham ambhasi dhāsyasi
Synonyms
mām
—
me
;
vipāṭya
—
breaking to pieces
;
ajarām
—
very strong
;
nāvam
—
boat
;
yatra
—
where
;
viśvam
—
all worldly paraphernalia
;
pratiṣṭhitam
—
standing
;
ātmānam
—
yourself
;
ca
—
and
;
prajāḥ
—
your subjects
;
ca
—
also
;
imāḥ
—
all these
;
katham
—
how
;
ambhasi
—
in the water
;
dhāsyasi
—
you will hold .
Translation
The cow-shaped earth continued: My dear King, I am just like a strong boat, and all the paraphernalia of the world is standing upon me. If you break me to pieces, how can you protect yourself and your subjects from drowning?
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
If you break me, a strong boat in which all beings are situated, how will you keep these citizens and yourself afloat in the water?
Breaking this strong boat, how will you hold up the beings in the water? If I die, then everything will sink in the Garbodhaka Ocean.
Purport
Beneath the entire planetary system is the
garbha
water. Lord Viṣṇu lies on this
garbha
water, and from His abdomen a lotus stem grows, and all the planets within the universe are floating in the air, being supported by this lotus stem. If a planet is destroyed, it must fall into the water of
garbha.
The earth therefore warned King Pṛthu that he could gain nothing by destroying her. Indeed, how would he protect himself and his citizens from drowning in the
garbha
water? In other words, outer space may be compared to an ocean of air, and each and every planet is floating on it just as a boat or island floats on the ocean. Sometimes planets are called
dvīpa,
or islands, and sometimes they are called boats. Thus the cosmic manifestation is partially explained in this reference by the cow-shaped earth.