Devanagari
त्रेतायां रक्तवर्णोऽसौ चतुर्बाहुस्त्रिमेखल: ।
हिरण्यकेशस्त्रय्यात्मा स्रुक्स्रुवाद्युपलक्षण: ॥ २४ ॥
Verse text
tretāyāṁ rakta-varṇo ’sau
catur-bāhus tri-mekhalaḥ
hiraṇya-keśas trayy-ātmā
sruk-sruvādy-upalakṣaṇaḥ
Synonyms
tretāyām
—
in Tretā-yuga
;
rakta
—
varṇaḥ — red-complexioned
;
asau
—
He
;
catuḥ
—
bāhuḥ — four-armed
;
tri
—
mekhalaḥ — wearing three belts (representing three phases of Vedic initiation)
;
hiraṇya
—
keśaḥ — having golden hair
;
trayi
—
ātmā — personifying the knowledge of the three Vedas
;
sruk
—
sruva — ādi — the sacrificial wooden ladle, spoon and so on
;
upalakṣaṇaḥ
—
having as His symbols .
Translation
In Tretā-yuga the Lord appears with a red complexion. He has four arms, golden hair, and wears a triple belt representing initiation into each of the three Vedas. Embodying the knowledge of worship by sacrificial performance, which is contained in the Ṛg, Sāma and Yajur Vedas, His symbols are the ladle, spoon and other implements of sacrifice.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
In Tretā-yuga the Lord appears with a red complexion. He has four arms, golden hair, and wears a triple belt representing initiation into each of the three Vedas. Embodying the knowledge of worship by sacrificial performance, which is contained in the Ṛg, Sāma and Yajur Vedas, his symbols are the ladle, spoon and other implements of sacrifice.
He is red in color and his name is Rakta. He wears a three stranded belt obtained during the initiation ceremony. He is the form of sacrifice, because he possesses the three Vedas. Sacrifice is the method of worship in this age.
Purport
The
sruk
is a particular implement for pouring ghee in sacrifices. It is about an arm’s length long and is made of a particular type of wood called
vikaṅkata.
The
sruk
has a rodlike handle and a spout with a shallow groove at its tip that resembles a swan’s beak. Its front part is a carved-out spoon the size of a fist. The
sruva
is another implement used in sacrificial oblations. It is made of
khadira
wood, is smaller than the
sruk
and is used to pour ghee into the
sruk.
It is also sometimes used instead of the
sruk
to pour ghee directly into the sacrificial fire. These are the Lord’s symbols in Tretā-yuga, when the Lord incarnates to introduce the
yuga-dharma
of
yajṣa,
or sacrifice.