SB 8.16.31 · Srimad-Bhagavatam

Devanagari

नमो द्विशीर्ष्णे त्रिपदे चतु:श‍ृङ्गाय तन्तवे । सप्तहस्ताय यज्ञाय त्रयीविद्यात्मने नम: ॥ ३१ ॥

Verse text

namo dvi-śīrṣṇe tri-pade catuḥ-śṛṅgāya tantave sapta-hastāya yajṣāya trayī-vidyātmane namaḥ

Synonyms

namaḥ — I offer my respectful obeisances unto You ; dvi — śīrṣṇe — who have two heads ; tri — pade — who have three legs ; catuḥ — śṛṅgāya — who have four horns ; tantave — who expand ; sapta — hastāya — who have seven hands ; yajṣāya — unto the yajṣa-puruṣa, the supreme enjoyer ; trayī — the three modes of Vedic ritualistic ceremonies ; vidyā — ātmane — the Personality of Godhead, the embodiment of all knowledge ; namaḥ — I offer my respectful obeisances unto You .

Translation

I offer my respectful obeisances unto You, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, who have two heads [prāyaṇīya and udāyanīya], three legs [savana-traya], four horns [the four Vedas] and seven hands [the seven chandas, such as Gāyatrī]. I offer my obeisances unto You, whose heart and soul are the three Vedic rituals [karma-kāṇḍa, jṣāna-kāṇḍa and upāsanā-kāṇḍa] and who expand these rituals in the form of sacrifice.

Translation (Visvanatha Cakravarti Thakura)

I offer my respectful obeisances unto you, the Supreme Lord who bestows the results of sacrifice, the Lord with two heads, three legs, four horns and seven hands, and to the soul of the three types of knowledge. Respects are offered to the guṇāvatāras in three verses. Respects are first offered to Viṣṇu in the form of sacrifice described in a Vedic mantra. He bestows the result of sacrifice (tantave). He is the soul of three types of knowledge or scripture. The mantra describing Viṣṇu is catvāri śṛṅgāṇi trayo ’sya pādā deve śīrṣe sapta hastāḥ, so ’sya tridhā baddho vṛṣabho roravīti mahadevo martyān āviveśa: the excellent Lord, with four horns, three feet, two heads and seven hands, bound three times, roaring loudly, entered mankind. (Ṛg Veda 4.58.3) Yāska explains that the four horns are the four Vedas. The three feet are the three periods of the day. The two heads are the introductory and concluding portions of sacrifice. The seven hands are seven meters. The three elements bound up are the mantra portion of the Vedas, the brāhmaṇa portion and the kalpa portion (rules for sacrifice). One chants (roravi) using the Ṛg-veda, Yajur-veda and Sāma-veda. One invokes the Lord by the Ṛg-veda, performs sacrifice by the Yajur-veda and praises the Lord by Sāma-veda.