Chapter 10: The Opulence of the Absolute
Bg 10.34
TEXT 34
mrtyuh sarva-haras caham
udbhavas ca bhavisyatam
kirtih srir vak ca narinam
smrtir medha dhrtih ksama
SYNONYMS
mrtyuh—death; sarva-harah—all-devouring; ca—also; aham—I am; udbhavah—generation; ca—also; bhavisyatam—of the future; kirtih—fame; srih vak—beautiful speech; ca—also; narinam—of women; smrtih—memory; medha—intelligence; dhrtih—faithfulness; ksama—patience.
TRANSLATION
I am all-devouring death, and I am the generator of all things yet to be. Among women I am fame, fortune, speech, memory, intelligence, faithfulness and patience.
PURPORT
As soon as a man is born, he dies at every moment. Thus death is devouring every living entity at every moment, but the last stroke is called death itself. That death is Krsna. All species of life undergo six basic changes. They are born, they grow, they remain for some time, they reproduce, they dwindle and finally vanish. Of these changes, the first is deliverance from the womb, and that is Krsna. The first generation is the beginning of all future activities.
The six opulences listed are considered to be feminine. If a woman possesses all of them or some of them she becomes glorious. Sanskrit is a perfect language and is therefore very glorious. After studying, if one can remember the subject matter, he is gifted with good memory, or smrti One need not read many books on different subject matters; the ability to remember a few and quote them when necessary is also another opulence.