Devanagari
तस्यां स चाम्भोरुहकर्णिकाया-
मवस्थितो लोकमपश्यमान: ।
परिक्रमन् व्योम्नि विवृत्तनेत्र-
श्चत्वारि लेभेऽनुदिशं मुखानि ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
tasyāṁ sa cāmbho-ruha-karṇikāyām
avasthito lokam apaśyamānaḥ
parikraman vyomni vivṛtta-netraś
catvāri lebhe ’nudiśaṁ mukhāni
Synonyms
tasyām
—
in that
;
saḥ
—
Brahmā
;
ca
—
and
;
ambhaḥ
—
water
;
ruha
—
karṇikāyām — whorl of the lotus
;
avasthitaḥ
—
being situated
;
lokam
—
the world
;
apaśyamānaḥ
—
without being able to see
;
parikraman
—
circumambulating
;
vyomni
—
in space
;
vivṛtta
—
netraḥ — while moving the eyes
;
catvāri
—
four
;
lebhe
—
achieved
;
anudiśam
—
in terms of direction
;
mukhāni
—
heads .
Translation
Brahmā, born out of the lotus flower, could not see the world, although he was situated in the whorl. He therefore circumambulated all of space, and while moving his eyes in all directions he achieved four heads in terms of the four directions.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
Brahmā, situated in the center of the lotus, could not see the universe’s planets. Turning his head around and glancing into space, he attained four heads to see in the four directions.
Situated there he turned his head around to look for the planets and at the same time glanced in all directions at the space because there was no one there. He obtained four heads to see the four directions (anudiśam).