Śrīmad Bhāgavata 1.12.31

Synonyms

iva — just as [yathā⁸⁷]; śukle — in the bright fortnight [śukla-pakṣe]; saḥ — the [well-known (prasiddhaḥ)]; uḍupaḥ — moon [candraḥ⁸⁸]; vavṛdhe — increases [vardhate]; anvaham — daily [prati-dinam⁸⁹]; kāṣṭhābhiḥ — by one-sixteenth part [by a total of fifteen one-sixteenth parts (pañca-daśa-kalābhiḥ)]; āpūrya-māṇaḥ — [and] becomes full; [so too (evam)]; saḥ — that; rāja-putraḥ — prince; pitṛbhiḥ — [being nourished] by his grandparents [headed by Yudhiṣṭhira, with love and acculturation in the sixty-four arts (yudhiṣṭirādibhiḥ kāmaiś catuḥ-ṣaṣṭi kalābhiś ca)⁹⁰]; [grew up (vavṛdhe)⁹¹]; āśu — quickly; [and attained to the fullness of being (āpūryamāṇaḥ)].

Just as in the bright fortnight, the moon increases daily by one-sixteenth part and becomes full, so too that prince, being nourished by his grandparents, grew up quickly and attained to the fullness of being.

Notes

87Unless otherwise indicated, this and the following bracketed inserts in verse 31 are Śrīdhara Svāmī’s comments. It is to be noted that although the word kāṣṭhā that follows means “one-sixteenth part of the disk of the moon,” if the new moon is taken as the first sixteenth part, then it is increased altogether by fifteen other such parts in a fortnight. This is the meaning of Śrīdhara Svāmī’s gloss on the word kāṣṭhābhiḥ as pañca-daśa-kalābhiḥ, “[increases] by fifteen one-sixteenth parts.”↩

88Viśvanātha Cakravartī.↩

89Giridhara.↩

90Śrīdhara Svāmī. It is to be noted that in his prior comment, the word kalā refers to a phase of the moon, whereas here, it refers to the human arts, which are said to be 64 in number. Although he doesn’t specifically point it out, the use of the word kalā with two different meanings carries the suggestion that just as the moon increases to fullness through its fifteen phases (pañca-daśa-kalābhiḥ), Parīkṣit grew to the fullness of being through the sixty-four phases of aesthetic acculturation (catuḥ-ṣaṣṭi-kalābhiḥ). The idea that the perfected human being evolves to completion through sixty-four arts or phases also suggests the vast potential of the human condition when nurtured by divinity.↩

91According to Śrīdhara Svāmī and Viśvanātha Cakravartī, the words vavṛdhe and āpūryamāṇaḥ are to be applied both to the standard of comparison (the moon) and to the subject of comparison (Parīkṣit). This is shown here in the anvaya.↩

SB 1.12.31

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