3.38 Smoke, dust, and the womb Krishna speaks
धूमेनाव्रियते वह्निर्यथाऽऽदर्शो मलेन च
यथोल्बेनावृतो गर्भस्तथा तेनेदमावृतम्
dhūmenāvriyate vahnir yathādarśho malena cha
yatholbenāvṛito garbhas tathā tenedam āvṛitam
As smoke covers fire, as dust covers a mirror, as the womb covers the embryo, so this covers knowledge.
Explanation
Three images for the same event.
- smoke over fire
- dust on a mirror
- the womb around the embryo
The third one breaks the pattern and is the most interesting. Smoke and dust are obstructions to be cleared; a womb is what something is growing inside.
Going further
Word by word
- dhūmena
- by smoke
- āvriyate
- is covered
- vahniḥ
- fire
- yathā
- just as
- ādarśhaḥ
- mirror
- malena
- by dust
- cha
- also
- yathā
- just as
- ulbena
- by the womb
- āvṛitaḥ
- is covered
- garbhaḥ
- embryo
- tathā
- similarly
- tena
- by that (desire)
- idam
- this
- āvṛitam
- is covered
Long-press or right-click the image to copy it. Nothing is uploaded — it is drawn here, on your device.
Three images for the same event: smoke over fire, dust on a mirror, the womb around the embryo.
The third one breaks the pattern, and deliberately. Smoke and dust are obscurations to be cleared. A womb is not a fault — it is the necessary covering of something growing. Having twice described desire as something in the way, the verse admits it may also be the condition under which anything develops at all.