SB 11.12.18 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

यथानल: खेऽनिलबन्धुरुष्मा बलेन दारुण्यधिमथ्यमान: । अणु: प्रजातो हविषा समेधते तथैव मे व्यक्तिरियं हि वाणी ॥ १८ ॥

Verse text

yathānalaḥ khe ’nila-bandhur uṣmā balena dāruṇy adhimathyamānaḥ aṇuḥ prajāto haviṣā samedhate tathaiva me vyaktir iyaṁ hi vāṇī

Synonyms

yathā — just as ; analaḥ — fire ; khe — in the space within wood ; anila — air ; bandhuḥ — whose help ; uṣmā — heat ; balena — strongly ; dāruṇi — within the wood ; adhimathyamānaḥ — being kindled by friction ; aṇuḥ — very tiny ; prajātaḥ — is born ; haviṣā — with ghee (clarified butter) ; samedhate — it increases ; tathā — similarly ; eva — indeed ; me — My ; vyaktiḥ — manifestation ; iyam — this ; hi — certainly ; vāṇī — the Vedic sounds .

Translation

When sticks of kindling wood are vigorously rubbed together, heat is produced by contact with air, and a spark of fire appears. Once the fire is kindled, ghee is added and the fire blazes. Similarly, I become manifest in the sound vibration of the Vedas.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

When sticks of kindling wood are vigorously rubbed together, heat is first situated as heat in the wood, and then by assistance of air, a spark of fire appears. Once the fire is kindled, ghee is added and the fire blazes. Similarly, I gradually become manifest as the sound of the Vedas. The gradually manifestation of the Vedas is described with an example. Fire resides as invisible warmth in the space within wood when the wood is first rubbed. With more rubbing of the wood, fire appears in small amount with the aid of air, as a spark. When it clearly manifests as fire, it then increases with addition of oblations. Similarly I appear gradually as the sound of the Vedas. Without me who will understand the deep meaning of the Vedas? Having understood, who will establish the methods of bhakti, jṣāna and karma for delivering the jīva from saṁsāra. By mercy, I am now giving these methods to you, the most qualified person, equal to me. The sages in Badarikāśrama, receiving this knowledge from you, will be successful.

Purport

Lord Kṛṣṇa here explains the most confidential meaning of Vedic knowledge. The Vedas first regulate ordinary material work and channel the fruits into ritualistic sacrifices, which ostensibly reward the performer with future benefits. The real purpose of these sacrifices, however, is to accustom a materialistic worker to offering the fruits of his work to a superior Vedic authority. An expert fruitive worker gradually exhausts the possibilities of material enjoyment and naturally gravitates toward the superior stage of philosophical speculation on his existential situation. By increased knowledge, one becomes aware of the unlimited glories of the Supreme and gradually takes to the process of loving devotional service to the transcendental Absolute Truth. Lord Kṛṣṇa is the goal of Vedic knowledge, as the Lord states in Bhagavad-gītā: vedaiś ca sarvair aham eva vedyaḥ. The Lord gradually becomes manifest in the progression of Vedic rituals, just as fire is gradually manifest by the rubbing of firewood. The words haviṣā samedhate (“the fire increases by addition of ghee”) indicate that by the progressive advancement of Vedic sacrifice, the fire of spiritual knowledge gradually blazes, illuminating everything and destroying the chain of fruitive work. Lord Kṛṣṇa considered Uddhava to be the most qualified person to hear this elaborate transcendental knowledge; therefore the Lord mercifully instructs Uddhava so that he may enlighten the sages at Badarikāśrama, thus fulfilling the purpose of the sages’ lives.