10.31 The wind, and the Ganges Krishna speaks
पवनः पवतामस्मि रामः शस्त्रभृतामहम्
झषाणां मकरश्चास्मि स्रोतसामस्मि जाह्नवी
pavanaḥ pavatām asmi rāmaḥ śhastra-bhṛitām aham
jhaṣhāṇāṁ makaraśh chāsmi srotasām asmi jāhnavī
Among purifiers I am the wind; among bearers of weapons, Rama; among fishes, the crocodile; and among rivers, the Ganges.
Explanation
The wind, Rama, the crocodile, the Ganges.
Among purifiers, the wind — the least tangible cleaner there is.
Four categories, four superlatives, and the mixture of the mythic and the merely large is part of what makes the catalogue work. Rama and a crocodile are on the same footing here.
Word by word
- pavanaḥ
- the wind
- pavatām
- of all that purifies
- asmi
- I am
- rāmaḥ
- Ram
- śhastra-bhṛitām
- of the carriers of weapons
- aham
- I am
- jhaṣhāṇām
- of all acquatics
- makaraḥ
- crocodile
- cha
- also
- asmi
- I am
- srotasām
- of flowing rivers
- asmi
- I am
- jāhnavī
- the Ganges
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