Devanagari
रूपभेदविदस्तत्र ततश्चोभयतोदत: ।
तेषां बहुपदा: श्रेष्ठाश्चतुष्पादस्ततो द्विपात् ॥ ३० ॥
Verse text
rūpa-bheda-vidas tatra
tataś cobhayato-dataḥ
teṣāṁ bahu-padāḥ śreṣṭhāś
catuṣ-pādas tato dvi-pāt
Synonyms
rūpa
—
bheda — distinctions of form
;
vidaḥ
—
those who perceive
;
tatra
—
than them
;
tataḥ
—
than them
;
ca
—
and
;
ubhayataḥ
—
in both jaws
;
dataḥ
—
those with teeth
;
teṣām
—
of them
;
bahu
—
padāḥ — those who have many legs
;
śreṣṭhāḥ
—
better
;
catuḥ
—
pādaḥ — four-legged
;
tataḥ
—
than them
;
dvi
—
pāt — two-legged .
Translation
Better than those living entities who can perceive sound are those who can distinguish between one form and another. Better than them are those who have developed upper and lower sets of teeth, and better still are those who have many legs. Better than them are the quadrupeds, and better still are the human beings.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Entities which can distinguish form are superior. Superior to them are entities with two sets of teeth. Superior to them are beings with many legs. Superior to them are animals with four legs. Superior to them are humans with two legs.
Beings who can distinguish forms such as crows are superior. Entities with upper and lower teeth such as snakes are superior. Those with many legs such as bees are superior. It should be understood that they have two sets of teeth since they can cut flowers or wood. Four legged animals are superior and two legged human beings are superior to them. Those beings later in the list are in general superior because of superior qualities. By knowledge from scriptures, it is understood that mountains like Govardhana and Veṅkatācala, and plants like tulasī, are superior and more worthy of respect because of even greater qualities, such as residing at the Lord’s abodes.
Purport
It is said that certain birds, such as crows, can distinguish one form from another. Living entities that have many legs, like the wasp, are better than plants and grasses, which have no legs. Four-legged animals are better than many-legged living entities, and better than the animals is the human being, who has only two legs.