Skip to main content

ŚB 11.7.33-35

Devanagari

पृथिवी वायुराकाशमापोऽग्निश्चन्द्रमा रवि: ।
कपोतोऽजगर: सिन्धु: पतङ्गो मधुकृद् गज: ॥ ३३ ॥
मधुहाहरिणो मीन: पिङ्गला कुररोऽर्भक: ।
कुमारी शरकृत् सर्प ऊर्णनाभि: सुपेशकृत् ॥ ३४ ॥
एते मे गुरवो राजन् चतुर्विंशतिराश्रिता: ।
शिक्षा वृत्तिभिरेतेषामन्वशिक्षमिहात्मन: ॥ ३५ ॥

Text

pṛthivī vāyur ākāśam
āpo ’gniś candramā raviḥ
kapoto ’jagaraḥ sindhuḥ
pataṅgo madhukṛd gajaḥ
madhu-hā hariṇo mīnaḥ
piṅgalā kuraro ’rbhakaḥ
kumārī śara-kṛt sarpa
ūrṇanābhiḥ supeśakṛt
ete me guravo rājan
catur-viṁśatir āśritāḥ
śikṣā vṛttibhir eteṣām
anvaśikṣam ihātmanaḥ

Synonyms

pṛthivī — the earth; vāyuḥ — the air; ākāśam — the sky; āpaḥ — the water; agniḥ — the fire; candramāḥ — the moon; raviḥ — the sun; kapotaḥ — the pigeon; ajagaraḥ — the python; sindhuḥ — the sea; pataṅgaḥ — the moth; madhu-kṛt — the honeybee; gajaḥ — the elephant; madhu- — the honey thief; hariṇaḥ — the deer; mīnaḥ — the fish; piṅgalā — the prostitute named Piṅgalā; kuraraḥ — the kurara bird; arbhakaḥ — the child; kumārī — the young girl; śara-kṛt — the arrow maker; sarpaḥ — the serpent; ūrṇa-nābhiḥ — the spider; supeśa-kṛt — the wasp; ete — these; me — me; guravaḥ — spiritual masters; rājan — O King; catuḥ-viṁśatiḥ — twenty-four; āśritāḥ — taken shelter of; śikṣā — instruction; vṛttibhiḥ — from the activities; eteṣām — of them; anvaśikṣam — I have properly learned; iha — in this life; ātmanaḥ — about the self.

Translation

O King, I have taken shelter of twenty-four gurus, who are the following: the earth, air, sky, water, fire, moon, sun, pigeon and python; the sea, moth, honeybee, elephant and honey thief; the deer, the fish, the prostitute Piṅgalā, the kurara bird and the child; and the young girl, arrow maker, serpent, spider and wasp. My dear King, by studying their activities I have learned the science of the self.

Purport

The wasp is known as supeśa-kṛt because it causes the insect that it kills to take a beautiful form in the next life.