O Acyuta! There is no speaker, creator and protector of dharma other than you, either on the earth or even in the assembly of Brahmā, where the personified Vedas reside. O Madhusūdana! When you, who are the very creator, protector and speaker of spiritual knowledge, abandon the earth, who will again speak this lost knowledge? Kalā means the eighteen types of knowledge in the Vedas. ṛg-yajuḥ-sāmārthavākhyā vedāś catvāra eva ca | purāṇa-nyāya-mīmāṁsā-dharma-śāstrāṇi cety api || śikṣā kalpo vyākaraṇaṁ niruktaṁ jyotiṣaṁ tathā | chandaś ceti ṣaḍ ity evaṁ vidyāḥ proktāś caturdaśa || āyur dhanur gānārthaiś ca śāstrair aṣṭadaśāpi tāḥ || The eighteen scriptures are the Ṛg, Yajus, Sāma and Arthava Vedas, the Purāṇas, sciptures on logic, Mīmāṁsā, dharma-śāstras, śikṣā (pronunciation), kalpa (rules for ritual), grammar, etyiomology, astronomy, meter, medicine, military arts, music and politics.