Devanagari
पश्य प्रयान्तीरभवान्ययोषितो
ऽप्यलड़्क़ृता: कान्तसखा वरूथश: ।
यासां व्रजद्भि: शितिकण्ठ मण्डितं
नभो विमानै: कलहंसपाण्डुभि: ॥ १२ ॥
Verse text
paśya prayāntīr abhavānya-yoṣito
’py alaṅkṛtāḥ kānta-sakhā varūthaśaḥ
yāsāṁ vrajadbhiḥ śiti-kaṇṭha maṇḍitaṁ
nabho vimānaiḥ kala-haṁsa-pāṇḍubhiḥ
Synonyms
paśya
—
just see
;
prayāntīḥ
—
going
;
abhava
—
O never-born
;
anya
—
yoṣitaḥ — other women
;
api
—
certainly
;
alaṅkṛtāḥ
—
ornamented
;
kānta
—
sakhāḥ — with their husbands and friends
;
varūthaśaḥ
—
in large numbers
;
yāsām
—
of them
;
vrajadbhiḥ
—
flying
;
śiti
—
kaṇṭha — O blue-throated one
;
maṇḍitam
—
decorated
;
nabhaḥ
—
the sky
;
vimānaiḥ
—
with airplanes
;
kala
—
haṁsa — swans
;
pāṇḍubhiḥ
—
white .
Translation
O never-born, O blue-throated one, not only my relatives but also other women, dressed in nice clothes and decorated with ornaments, are going there with their husbands and friends. Just see how their flocks of white airplanes have made the entire sky very beautiful.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
O Śiva, without material conditioning! See also other ornamented women, going in groups with their husbands. O Śiva with a blue throat! The sky is decorated with their flying airplanes, white like swans.
I am not the only one in this condition. Abhava means “you do not experience the suffering of separation from loved ones.” Other women, not relatives, along with the husbands (kaṇta-sakhāḥ), are going together (varuthaśaḥ). The sky is decorated with their airplanes. O blue-throated! You drank poison to give mercy to others. Therefore, please permit this!
Purport
Here Lord Śiva is addressed as
abhava,
which means “one who is never born,” although generally he is known as
bhava,
“one who is born.” Rudra, Lord Śiva, is actually born from between the eyes of Brahmā, who is called Svayambhū because he is not born of any human being or material creature but is born directly from the lotus flower which grows from the abdomen of Viṣṇu. When Lord Śiva is addressed here as
abhava,
this may be taken to mean “one who has never felt material miseries.” Satī wanted to impress upon her husband that even those who were not related to her father were also going, to say nothing of herself, who was intimately related with him. Lord Śiva is addressed here as blue-throated. Lord Śiva drank an ocean of poison and kept it in his throat, not swallowing it or allowing it to go down to his stomach, and thus his throat became blue. Since then he has been known as
nīlakaṇṭha,
or blue-throated. The reason that Lord Śiva drank an ocean of poison was for others’ benefit. When the ocean was churned by the demigods and the demons, the churning at first produced poison, so because the poisonous ocean might have affected others who were not so advanced, Lord Śiva drank all the ocean water. In other words, he could drink such a great amount of poison for others’ benefit, and now, since his wife was personally requesting him to go to her father’s house, even if he did not wish to give that permission, he should do so out of his great kindness.