Devanagari
मुख्या नाम पुरस्ताद् द्वास्तयापणबहूदनौ ।
विषयौ याति पुरराड्रसज्ञविपणान्वित: ॥ ४९ ॥
Verse text
mukhyā nāma purastād dvās
tayāpaṇa-bahūdanau
viṣayau yāti pura-rāḍ
rasajṣa-vipaṇānvitaḥ
Synonyms
mukhyā
—
the chief
;
nāma
—
called
;
purastāt
—
on the eastern side
;
dvāḥ
—
gate
;
tayā
—
by that
;
āpaṇa
—
of the name Āpaṇa
;
bahūdanau
—
of the name Bahūdana
;
viṣayau
—
two places
;
yāti
—
used to go
;
pura
—
rāṭ — the King of the city (Puraṣjana)
;
rasa
—
jṣa — of the name Rasajṣa
;
vipaṇa
—
of the name Vipaṇa
;
anvitaḥ
—
along with .
Translation
The fifth gate situated on the eastern side was named Mukhyā, or the chief. Through this gate, accompanied by his friends named Rasajṣa and Vipaṇa, he used to visit two places named Bahūdana and Āpaṇa.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
On the eastern side was a gate named Mukhyā, or the chief. Through this gate, accompanied by Rasajṣa and Vipaṇa, he used to visit two places named Bahūdana and Āpaṇa.
The mouth is called the chief because it gives life to everything else. By that one gate the King went to two places. By each of the two other doors mentioned he only went one place. Thus this one door is superior. This is the mouth. It is used for speaking (āpaṇa) and taking food (bahūdanaḥ). This word is used instead of bahvodana, since it speaks of the past. Rasajṣam is the tongue and vipaṇaḥ is the voice.
Purport
The mouth is here described as the chief or the most important gate. The mouth is a very important entrance because one has two functions to conduct with the mouth. One function is eating, and the other is speaking. Our eating is done with the friend Rasajṣa, the tongue, which can taste so many different types of foods. The tongue is also used for speaking, and it can speak of either material sense enjoyment or Vedic knowledge. Of course, here material sense enjoyment is stressed. Therefore the word
rasajṣa
is used.