Devanagari
नलिनी नालिनी नासे गन्ध: सौरभ उच्यते ।
घ्राणोऽवधूतो मुख्यास्यं विपणो वाग्रसविद्रस: ॥ ११ ॥
Verse text
nalinī nālinī nāse
gandhaḥ saurabha ucyate
ghrāṇo ’vadhūto mukhyāsyaṁ
vipaṇo vāg rasavid rasaḥ
Synonyms
nalinī
—
named Nalinī
;
nālinī
—
named Nālinī
;
nāse
—
the two nostrils
;
gandhaḥ
—
aroma
;
saurabhaḥ
—
Saurabha (fragrance)
;
ucyate
—
is called
;
ghrāṇaḥ
—
the sense of smell
;
avadhūtaḥ
—
called Avadhūta
;
mukhyā
—
called Mukhyā (principal)
;
āsyam
—
the mouth
;
vipaṇaḥ
—
named Vipaṇa
;
vāk
—
the faculty of speech
;
rasa
—
vit — named Rasajṣa (expert in tasting)
;
rasaḥ
—
the sense of taste .
Translation
The two doors named Nalinī and Nālinī should be known as the two nostrils, and the city named Saurabha represents aroma. The companion spoken of as Avadhūta is the sense of smell. The door called Mukhyā is the mouth, and Vipaṇa is the faculty of speech. Rasajṣa is the sense of taste.
Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)
The gates called Nalinī and Nālinī are the two nostrils. The place called Saurabha is the sense object smell. Avadhūta refers to the sense organ called the nose. The gate called Mukhya is the mouth. Vipaṇa is the voice. Rasajṣa is the sense organ called the tongue.
Avadhūta means shaking. It refers to air. Air is used in breathing, which is performed with the nose also. Therefore the nose is called Avadhūta. The name Mukhya refers to the mouth, which functions for tasting and speaking. Vipaṇa means the voice and Rasajṣa or Rasavit means the tongue. Nine syllables in the last line is an irregularity in the meter.
Purport
The word
avadhūta
means “most free.” A person is not under the rules and regulations of any injunction when he has attained the stage of
avadhūta.
In other words, he can act as he likes. This
avadhūta
stage is exactly like air, which does not care for any obstruction. In
Bhagavad-gītā
(6.34)
it is said:
caṣcalaṁ hi manaḥ kṛṣṇa
pramāthi balavad dṛḍham
tasyāhaṁ nigrahaṁ manye
vāyor iva suduṣkaram
“The mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and very strong, O Kṛṣṇa, and to subdue it is, it seems to me, more difficult than controlling the wind.”
Just as the air or wind cannot be checked by anyone, the two nostrils, situated in one place, enjoy the sense of smell without impediment. When the tongue is present, the mouth continually tastes all kinds of relishable foodstuffs.