atha capalāpāṅgī—
taḍid-aticalatāṁ te kiṁ dṛg-antād apāṭhīd
vidhu-mukhi taḍito vā kiṁ tavāyaṁ dṛgantaḥ |
dhruvam iha gurutābhūt tvad-dṛg-antasya rādhe
varam atijavināṁ me yena jigye mano'pi ||
The verse — decoded
L1other
taḍid-aticalatāṁ te kiṁ dṛg-antād apāṭhīd
taḍid-aticalatāmthe lightning-quick extreme restlessness — the darting flicker we name after lightning (the thing learned) accusative, object of apāṭhītबिजली-सी अत्यन्त चंचलता को (कर्म — 'को')
teyour — of the eye-corner genitiveतेरे (नेत्र-कोर की)
kiṁwas it that…? — Kṛṣṇa poses the first horn of a teasing question interrogativeक्या (प्रश्न-सूचक)
dṛg-antātfrom the corner of your eye — as the source it took the lesson from ablative of sourceनेत्र के कोने से (स्रोत — 'से')
apāṭhītdid [the lightning] learn / study itसीख लिया / पढ़ लिया
kiṁ — was it that…?; [taḍit, understood subject] — the lightning; te dṛg-antāt — from the corner of your eye; taḍid-aticalatām — the lightning-quick restlessness; apāṭhīt — learned?
क्या [बिजली ने] तेरे नेत्र-कोर से बिजली-सी अत्यन्त चंचलता सीख ली?
Kṛṣṇa is teasing Rādhā. The subject of the verb is left unspoken — the lightning. He asks: that darting restlessness we call 'lightning-quick' — did the lightning itself learn it from the corner of your eye?
क्या बिजली ने तेरे नेत्र के कोने से यह बिजली-सी चंचलता सीखी है?
The learner in this line is supplied from context (the lightning); the eye-corner is the source (ablative). Line 2 reverses the roles.
L2other
vidhu-mukhi taḍito vā kiṁ tavāyaṁ dṛgantaḥ |
vidhu-mukhiO moon-faced one — addressing Rādhā vocativeहे चन्द्रमुखी! (सम्बोधन)
taḍitaḥfrom the lightning — now the source ablative of sourceबिजली से (स्रोत — 'से')
vāor — the other horn of the questionअथवा
kiṁwas it that…? interrogativeक्या (प्रश्न-सूचक)
tavayour genitiveतेरे (का)
ayaṁ dṛg-antaḥthis corner of your eye — now the one taking the lesson nominative, subjectयह नेत्र-कोर (कर्ता)
vidhu-mukhi — O moon-faced one; vā — or; kiṁ — was it that…?; tava ayaṁ dṛg-antaḥ — this corner of your eye; taḍitaḥ — from the lightning; [apāṭhīt] — learned it?
अथवा हे चन्द्रमुखी, क्या तेरे नेत्र का यह कोना बिजली से [यह चंचलता सीखा]?
Or the other way round, moon-faced one — did this corner of your eye learn that restlessness from the lightning? The verb 'learned' carries over from the first line; only the roles are swapped: now the eye is the pupil, the lightning the teacher.
या फिर, हे चन्द्रमुखी, तेरे नेत्र के इस कोने ने बिजली से यह चंचलता सीखी है?
L3conclusion
dhruvam iha gurutābhūt tvad-dṛg-antasya rādhe
dhruvamsurely — Kṛṣṇa now settles the questionनिश्चय ही
ihahere, in this contestयहाँ / इस विषय में
gurutāthe standing of a guru — being the teacher, and the greater one too śleṣa: guru = teacher AND weightier/superiorगुरुता (श्लेष — गुरु अर्थात् शिक्षक, तथा गुरु अर्थात् श्रेष्ठ; दोनों)
abhūtturned out to belong / came to beसिद्ध हो गई / हो गई
tvad-dṛg-antasyato the corner of your eye — whose the teachership is genitive of possessionतेरे नेत्र-कोर की (सम्बन्ध — 'की')
rādheO Rādhā vocativeहे राधे! (सम्बोधन)
rādhe — O Rādhā; dhruvam — surely; iha — in this matter; tvad-dṛg-antasya — to the corner of your eye; gurutā — the standing of the teacher; abhūt — came to belong.
हे राधे, निश्चय ही इस विषय में तेरे नेत्र-कोर की गुरुता सिद्ध हो गई।
He settles the dilemma. Surely, Rādhā, in this contest it is your eye-corner that holds the teacher's rank — so the lightning is the pupil, your glance taught it. And the word 'guru' cuts two ways: your glance is both the teacher of restlessness and the greater of the two.
हे राधे, तो निश्चय ही यहाँ तेरे नेत्र-कोर की गुरुता सिद्ध हो गई।
gurutā rides a śleṣa: guru means both 'teacher' and 'heavy, hence superior.' Both senses are live here — teachership and pre-eminence at once.
'गुरुता' यहाँ श्लेष है — नेत्र-कोर गुरु (शिक्षक) भी है, क्योंकि बिजली ने उससे सीखा; और गुरु (श्रेष्ठ/बड़ा) भी है, क्योंकि वह बिजली से भी बढ़कर है। दोनों अर्थ साथ रखने हैं।
L4other
varam atijavināṁ me yena jigye mano'pi ||
varamthe foremost one — the best of themश्रेष्ठ / सर्वोत्तम
atijavināṁamong the exceedingly swift — of all fast things genitive, partitiveअत्यन्त वेगवानों में से (विभाजक सम्बन्ध — 'में से')
memy genitiveमेरे (सम्बन्ध — 'मन' से जुड़ा)
yenaby which [eye-corner] — the very reason it is the guru instrumental; relative to L3जिसके द्वारा (L3 के नेत्र-कोर से सम्बन्धित)
jigyewas conquered / was outrunजीत लिया गया
manaḥ apieven the mind — even mine was beaten api = evenमन को भी (अपि = 'भी')
yena — by which eye-corner; me manaḥ api — even my mind; atijavināṁ varam — the foremost of all swift things; jigye — was conquered.
अत्यन्त वेगवानों में [यह] श्रेष्ठ है, जिसके द्वारा मेरा मन भी जीत लिया गया।
And here is why the glance is the master of restlessness: by it even my mind was beaten — and my mind is the swiftest of all swift things. If your glance outran even that, it truly is the teacher the lightning had to learn from.
अत्यन्त वेगवान् पदार्थों में यह सर्वश्रेष्ठ है; इसने तो मेरे मन को भी जीत लिया।
Commentary — decoded
Jīva Gosvāmī
s1avataranika
taḍid iti śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyam |
taḍit itithe verse beginning 'taḍit' iti names the verse by its opening word'तडित्' इति — 'तडित्' शब्द से आरम्भ होने वाला (श्लोक)
śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyamis a speech of Śrī Kṛṣṇa — telling us who is speakingश्रीकृष्ण का वचन है
taḍit iti — the verse beginning 'taḍit'; śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyam — is spoken by Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
'तडित्' इत्यादि यह श्लोक श्रीकृष्ण का वचन है।
Jīva first fixes the speaker. The verse starting 'taḍit' is spoken by Kṛṣṇa himself — this is him teasing Rādhā, not the poet describing her.
'तडित्' से आरम्भ होने वाला यह श्लोक श्रीकृष्ण के मुख का वचन है।
s2gloss
apāṭhīd adhyaiṣṭa |
apāṭhīt'apāṭhīt' — the verse's hard verb'अपाठीत्' (जिसका अर्थ किया जा रहा है)
adhyaiṣṭameans 'studied, learned' — the plain equivalentअर्थात् 'अध्यैष्ट' — अध्ययन किया / सीखा
apāṭhīt — [the verse's] apāṭhīt; adhyaiṣṭa — means 'studied, learned'.
'अपाठीत्' अर्थात् 'अध्यैष्ट' — अध्ययन किया।
He glosses the one difficult word. 'apāṭhīt' simply means 'studied' or 'learned' — the language of a pupil taking lessons, which is what sets up the whole teacher-and-pupil conceit.
यहाँ 'अपाठीत्' का अर्थ है 'अध्यैष्ट' — पढ़ा या सीखा।
s3citation
paṭhaty adhīte’dhyayana ity ākhyāta-candrikā ||
paṭhati adhīte adhyayana'paṭhati' and 'adhīte' [both fall under] 'studying' — the quoted lexicon entry the marked quote'पठति', 'अधीते' — 'अध्ययन' (के अर्थ में)
iti ākhyāta-candrikāso says the Ākhyāta-candrikā — the verb-lexicon he cites as authorityऐसा आख्यात-चन्द्रिका में (कहा गया है)
paṭhati, adhīte — adhyayana iti — 'paṭhati' and 'adhīte' [mean] 'studying'; ākhyāta-candrikā — so [states] the Ākhyāta-candrikā.
'पठति, अधीते — अध्ययन' — ऐसा आख्यात-चन्द्रिका (कहती है)।
He backs the gloss with a dictionary. The Ākhyāta-candrikā, a lexicon of verbs, lists both 'paṭhati' and 'adhīte' under 'studying.' Since 'apāṭhīt' comes from √paṭh, it rightly means 'learned' — the verse really is using the vocabulary of the classroom.
आख्यात-चन्द्रिका के अनुसार 'पठति' और 'अधीते' दोनों 'अध्ययन' (पढ़ना) के अर्थ में हैं।
Why cited: Lexical proof that apāṭhīt (√paṭh) denotes 'studying / learning,' securing the teacher–pupil reading the verse turns on.
क्यों उद्धृत: यह प्रमाण इसलिए उद्धृत है कि 'पठ्' धातु का अर्थ 'अध्ययन करना' सिद्ध हो — अतः 'अपाठीत्' का अर्थ 'सीखा/पढ़ा' बनता है।
Viśvanātha Cakravartī
s1avataranika
taḍid iti śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyam |
taḍit itithe verse beginning 'taḍit' iti names the verse by its opening word'तडित्' इति — 'तडित्' शब्द से आरम्भ होने वाला (श्लोक)
śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyamis a speech of Śrī Kṛṣṇa — fixing the speakerश्रीकृष्ण का वचन है
taḍit iti — the verse beginning 'taḍit'; śrī-kṛṣṇa-vākyam — is spoken by Śrī Kṛṣṇa.
'तडित्' इत्यादि यह श्लोक श्रीकृष्ण का वचन है।
Viśvanātha opens the same way as Jīva: the 'taḍit' verse is Kṛṣṇa's own speech to Rādhā.
'तडित्' से आरम्भ होने वाला यह श्लोक श्रीकृष्ण के मुख का वचन है।
s2gloss
apāṭhīd adhyaiṣṭa |
apāṭhīt'apāṭhīt' — the verse's verb'अपाठीत्' (जिसका अर्थ किया जा रहा है)
adhyaiṣṭameans 'studied, learned'अर्थात् 'अध्यैष्ट' — अध्ययन किया / सीखा
apāṭhīt — [the verse's] apāṭhīt; adhyaiṣṭa — means 'studied, learned'.
'अपाठीत्' अर्थात् 'अध्यैष्ट' — अध्ययन किया।
And he gives the same gloss of the verb: 'apāṭhīt' means 'studied, learned.'
यहाँ 'अपाठीत्' का अर्थ है 'अध्यैष्ट' — पढ़ा या सीखा।
s3gloss
gurutā adhyāpakatvaṁ śreṣṭhatvaṁ ca |
gurutā'gurutā' — the word in the verse'गुरुता' (जिसका अर्थ किया जा रहा है)
adhyāpakatvaṁmeans being a teacher — the schoolmaster senseअध्यापक होना (शिक्षकपन)
śreṣṭhatvaṁ caand also being the superior one — the 'weightier, greater' sense ca = and; the second half of the punऔर श्रेष्ठ होना (श्रेष्ठता) — च = 'और', श्लेष का दूसरा अर्थ
gurutā — [the word] gurutā; adhyāpakatvaṁ — [means] being a teacher; śreṣṭhatvaṁ ca — and being the superior one.
'गुरुता' अर्थात् अध्यापकत्व तथा श्रेष्ठत्व — दोनों।
Viśvanātha unlocks the pun on 'guru.' gurutā carries two senses at once: being the teacher, and being the greater, weightier one. So the line says both that your glance is the teacher of restlessness and that it is the superior of the two — glance over lightning. Neither sense is dropped; both stand.
यहाँ 'गुरुता' के दो अर्थ हैं — गुरु अर्थात् अध्यापक होना, और गुरु अर्थात् श्रेष्ठ होना।
guru — in ordinary Sanskrit means both 'teacher' and 'heavy, hence weighty / superior.' Viśvanātha keeps both live: gurutā = teachership AND pre-eminence together.
विश्वनाथ यहाँ श्लोक के श्लेष को खोल रहे हैं — 'गुरुता' के दोनों अर्थ (अध्यापकत्व और श्रेष्ठत्व) एक साथ अभिप्रेत हैं।
s4conclusion
yena dṛgantena jigye manasaḥ sakāśād apy atijavitvād anudhāvitāpi tad-ullaṅghitaṁ vaśīkṛtam iti vastv-arthaḥ ||
yena dṛg-antenaby which corner of the eye — the glance that did the conquering instrumentalजिस नेत्र-कोर के द्वारा (करण — 'के द्वारा')
jigye[the mind] was conqueredजीत लिया गया
manasaḥ sakāśāt apieven set beside the mind — swifter than even that ablative of comparison; api = evenमन की अपेक्षा भी (तुलना — 'से बढ़कर'; अपि = 'भी')
atijavitvātbecause [the glance] is exceedingly swift ablative of causeअत्यन्त वेगवान् होने के कारण (हेतु — 'के कारण')
anudhāvitā apithough [the glance] was chased after [by the mind] feminine = the glance; api = thoughयद्यपि (उस दृष्टि का) पीछा किया गया (अपि = 'तो भी')
tad-ullaṅghitamit — the mind — was overtaken, left behind tat neuter = the mindवह (मन) लाँघ लिया गया / पीछे छूट गया
vaśīkṛtamand so [the mind] was brought under controlवश में कर लिया गया
iti vastv-arthaḥ— this is the real, settled meaning wrapping up the lineऐसा वास्तविक अर्थ है (उपसंहार)
yena dṛg-antena — by which corner of the eye; manaḥ [api] — [even] the mind; jigye — was conquered; atijavitvāt — because [the glance] is swifter; manasaḥ sakāśāt api — even than the mind; anudhāvitā api — though the glance was chased; tat — the mind; ullaṅghitam — was overtaken; vaśīkṛtam — [and] subdued; iti vastv-arthaḥ — this is the real meaning.
जिस नेत्र-कोर के द्वारा — मन से भी बढ़कर अत्यन्त वेगवान् होने के कारण — यद्यपि (मन ने उस दृष्टि का) पीछा किया, तो भी वह (मन) लाँघ लिया गया और वश में कर लिया गया; यही वास्तविक अर्थ है।
Now Viśvanātha spells out the last line's logic. The glance is swifter than even the mind. So when the mind gave chase, trying to keep pace, the glance — though pursued — outran it, leapt clear past it, and brought it under control. That is what 'even my mind was conquered' means. This, he says, is the plain fact of the matter.
जिस नेत्र-कोर के द्वारा मन भी जीत लिया गया — क्योंकि वह मन से भी अधिक वेगवान् है। यद्यपि मन ने उस दृष्टि का पीछा किया, तो भी दृष्टि ने मन को पीछे छोड़कर उसे वश में कर लिया। यही इसका वास्तविक तात्पर्य है।