Devanagari
सभाचत्वररथ्याभिराक्रीडायतनापणै: ।
चैत्यध्वजपताकाभिर्युक्तां विद्रुमवेदिभि: ॥ १६ ॥
Verse text
sabhā-catvara-rathyābhir
ākrīḍāyatanāpaṇaiḥ
caitya-dhvaja-patākābhir
yuktāṁ vidruma-vedibhiḥ
Synonyms
sabhā
—
assembly houses
;
catvara
—
squares
;
rathyābhiḥ
—
by streets
;
ākrīḍa
—
āyatana — gambling houses
;
āpaṇaiḥ
—
by shops
;
caitya
—
resting places
;
dhvaja
—
patākābhiḥ — with flags and festoons
;
yuktām
—
decorated
;
vidruma
—
without trees
;
vedibhiḥ
—
with platforms .
Translation
In that city there were many assembly houses, street crossings, streets, restaurants, gambling houses, markets, resting places, flags, festoons and beautiful parks. All these surrounded the city.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
It had a sitting place, an intersection, a main street, gambling houses, shops, a resting area, stages made of coral, and was decorated with flags and banners.
Sabhā means a place for the King to sit. It means the heart, where the jīva is situated. The intersection refers to the place below the palate where the passages for the mouth, nose, eyes and ears meet. The main road is the suṣumnā, iḍā and piṅgalā running down the spine. The gambling houses are the gross locations of the senses. The market is the gross mind (brain). The resting place (caitya) is within the citta. The flags are aversion to the Lord and the banners are the five miseries. The coral stages are the spaces within the various cakras.
Purport
In this way the capital is described. In the capital there are assembly houses and many squares, many street crossings, avenues and streets, many gambling places, markets and places of rest, all decorated with flags and festoons. The squares are surrounded with railings and are devoid of trees. The heart of the body can be compared to the assembly house, for the living entity is within the heart along with the Paramātmā, and thus the heart is the center of all remembrance, forgetfulness and deliberation. As stated in
Bhagavad-gītā
(15.15)
,
sarvasya cāhaṁ hṛdi sanniviṣṭo mattaḥ smṛtir jṣānam apohanaṁ ca.
In the body the eyes, ears and nose are different places of attraction for sense enjoyment, and the streets for going hither and thither may be compared to different types of air blowing within the body. The yogic process for controlling the air within the body and the different nerves is called
suṣumnā,
the path of liberation. The body is also a resting place because when the living entity becomes fatigued he takes rest within the body. The palms and the soles of the feet are compared to flags and festoons.