BG 10.34 (1972)
A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada
TEXT 34
- मृत्युः सर्वहरश्चाहमुद्भवश्च भविष्यताम् ।
- कीर्तिः श्रीर्वाक्च नारीणां स्मृतिर्मेधा धृतिः क्षमा ॥३४॥
- mṛtyuḥ sarva-haraś cāham
- udbhavaś ca bhaviṣyatām
- kīrtiḥ śrīr vāk ca nārīṇāṁ
- smṛtir medhā dhṛtiḥ kṣamā
SYNONYMS
mṛtyuḥ—death; sarva-haraḥ—all-devouring; ca—also; aham—I am; udbhavaḥ—generation; ca—also; bhaviṣyatām—of the future; kīrtiḥ—fame; śrīḥ vāk—beautiful speech; ca—also; nārīṇāṁ—of women; smṛtiḥ—memory; medhā—intelligence; dhṛtiḥ—faithfulness; kṣamā—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 Kṛṣṇa. 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 Kṛṣṇa. 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 smṛti 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.