SB 10.85.9 — FolioCorpus

Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam 10.85.9

दिशां त्वमवकाशोऽसि दिश: खं स्फोट आश्रय: । नादो वर्णस्त्वम् ॐकार आकृतीनां पृथक्कृति: ॥ ९ ॥

diśāṁ tvam avakāśo ’si

[dishaam tvam avakaasho ’si]

diśaḥ khaṁ sphoṭa āśrayaḥ

[dishah kham sphota aashrayah]

nādo varṇas tvam oṁkāra

[naado varnas tvam omkaara]

ākṛtīnāṁ pṛthak-kṛtiḥ

[aakriteenaam prithak-kritih]

Word-for-word

diśām — of the directions tvam — You avakāśaḥ — the power to accommodate asi — are diśaḥ — the directions kham — the ether sphoṭaḥ — elemental sound āśrayaḥ — having (ether) as its basis nādaḥ — sound in its form of unmanifest vibration varṇaḥ — the primeval syllable tvam — You oṁkāraḥ — om ākṛtīnām — of particular forms pṛthak - kṛtiḥ — the cause of differentiation (namely, manifest language) .

Blended reading (Sanskrit + English inline)

diśāṁ tvam avakāśo ’si

diśām

of the directions

tvam

You

avakāśaḥ

the power to accommodate

diśaḥ khaṁ sphoṭa āśrayaḥ

asi

are

diśaḥ

the directions

kham

the ether

sphoṭaḥ

elemental sound

nādo varṇas tvam oṁkāra

āśrayaḥ

having (ether) as its basis

ākṛtīnāṁ pṛthak-kṛtiḥ

nādaḥ

sound in its form of unmanifest vibration

varṇaḥ

the primeval syllable

tvam

You

oṁkāraḥ

ākṛtīnām

of particular forms

pṛthak - kṛtiḥ

the cause of differentiation (namely, manifest language) .

Important Words

sphoṭaḥ — the unmanifest sound-principle
Technical term from Sanskrit grammarians (Bhartṛhari, Pāṇinian school): the indivisible meaning-bearing unit that 'bursts' into manifest phonemes. Vasudeva identifies Bhagavān with this most subtle linguistic reality.
oṁkāraḥ — the syllable oṁ
Praṇava. BG 8.13 calls oṁ the one-syllable Brahman. Gauḍīyas read oṁ as containing Kṛṣṇa's name in seed — A-U-M corresponding to the Lord, His energy, and the jīva.
varṇaḥ — the phoneme, the audible sound-unit
From √vṛ, 'to cover, to color'. Each distinct sound is a 'coloring' of the underlying sphoṭa. Bhagavān is both the colorless ground and the colored manifestations.
kham — the ether, space
The subtlest of the five elements; the substrate that holds sound. Vasudeva moves through the elemental hierarchy from gross to subtle, naming each layer as Bhagavān.

You are the directions and their accommodating capacity, the all-pervading ether and the elemental sound residing within it. You are the primeval, unmanifested form of sound; the first syllable, om; and audible speech, by which sound, as words, acquires particular references.

Purport

In accordance with the general process of creation, speech always becomes audible in stages, which proceed from subtle inner impulse to outward expression. These stages are mentioned in the mantras of the Ṛg Veda (1.164.45): catvāri vāk-parimitā padāni tāni vidur brāhmaṇā ye manīṣiṇaḥ guhāyāṁ trīṇi nihitāni neṅgayanti turīyaṁ vāco manuṣyā vadanti “Discriminating brāhmaṇas know of four progressive stages of language. Three of these remain hidden within the heart as imperceptible vibrations, while the fourth stage is what people ordinarily understand as speech.”

— A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupāda

Gauḍīya Ācāryas

Viśvanātha Cakravartī Ṭhākura Gauḍīya

Translation

You are the directions and their accommodating capacity, the all-pervading ether and the elemental sound residing within it. You are the primeval, unmanifested form of sound; the first syllable, oṁ; and audible speech, by which sound, as words, acquires particular references.

Commentary

"You are the directions and the space created by the conditioning of ether. You are ether (kham) and its product sound (sphota) the sabda tanmatra , the subtlest manifestation of word called para. The pasyanti (nada) and madhyama stages of sound (omkara) are you. You are the meaningful words (krtih) denoting objects (akrtinam), the vyaikhari stage of sound." The sruti says, "The wise brahmanas know four stages of sound. Three forms of sound remain hidden in the heart and cannot be detected. The fourth, words, are spoken by man."

Jīva Gosvāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

You are the shelter of everything and thus you are the directions, ether etc.

Śrīdhara Svāmī Gauḍīya

Commentary

Āśrayaḥ indicates the śakti of ākāśa. The different types of sound—non-different from the condition of sound, are described.

Related values & verses

Related values

Mardava (Gentleness)Adambhitva (Non-hypocrisy / Authenticity)Vairagya (Detachment / Dispassion)Tejas (Inner Radiance / Vigour)Discriminative Wisdom

Concepts

Jiva

Related lectures

RCP SB 10-85-09 Telugu - 2014-07-06 ISKCON Tirupati
His Grace Rupeshwar Caitanya Prabhu· 2014-07-06· Telugu

Personal Guidance

You are the directions, the all-pervading ether, the very sound that travels through it. Space itself is sacred; the medium of every communication is the Lord.

Reflection Questions

What if every conversation I have today travels through God's own ether?
How would I speak differently if I knew the very medium was God?

Analogy

Before sound has shape there is the silent presence of space ready to receive it; before the syllable there is oṁ; before any word there is the One whose breath the word is. Vasudeva traces speech back upstream until he arrives at Kṛṣṇa.

📝 My note

Source: vedabase.io