Devanagari
क्लेदनं पिण्डनं तृप्ति: प्राणनाप्यायनोन्दनम् ।
तापापनोदो भूयस्त्वमम्भसो वृत्तयस्त्विमा: ॥ ४३ ॥
Verse text
kledanaṁ piṇḍanaṁ tṛptiḥ
prāṇanāpyāyanondanam
tāpāpanodo bhūyastvam
ambhaso vṛttayas tv imāḥ
Synonyms
kledanam
—
moistening
;
piṇḍanam
—
coagulating
;
tṛptiḥ
—
causing satisfaction
;
prāṇana
—
maintaining life
;
āpyāyana
—
refreshing
;
undanam
—
softening
;
tāpa
—
heat
;
apanodaḥ
—
driving away
;
bhūyastvam
—
being in abundance
;
ambhasaḥ
—
of water
;
vṛttayaḥ
—
the characteristic functions
;
tu
—
in fact
;
imāḥ
—
these .
Translation
The characteristics of water are exhibited by its moistening other substances, coagulating various mixtures, causing satisfaction, maintaining life, softening things, driving away heat, incessantly supplying itself to reservoirs of water, and refreshing by slaking thirst.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The qualities of water are moistening, making balls, causing satisfaction, giving life, relieving thirst, softening, extinguishing heat, and being plentiful.
The qualities of water are described. It is moistening, causes formation of a globe, and gives satisfaction. It gives life (prāṇana). Śruti says āpomayaḥ prāṇāḥ: life consists of water. It relieves thirst (āpyāyana). It makes things soft (undanam or udanam). It is plentiful. One can go again and again to a well to take water.
Purport
Starvation can be mitigated by drinking water. It is sometimes found that if a person who has taken a vow to fast takes a little water at intervals, the exhaustion of fasting is at once mitigated. In the
Vedas
it is also stated,
āpomayaḥ prāṇaḥ:
“Life depends on water.” With water, anything can be moistened or dampened. Flour dough can be prepared with a mixture of water. Mud is made by mixing earth with water. As stated in the beginning of
Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam,
water is the cementing ingredient of different material elements. If we build a house, water is actually the constituent in making the bricks. Fire, water and air are the exchanging elements for the entire material manifestation, but water is most prominent. Also, excessive heat can be reduced simply by pouring water on the heated field.