2.46
यावानर्थ उदपाने सर्वतः सम्प्लुतोदके ।
तावान्सर्वेषु वेदेषु ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः ॥
yāvān artha udapāne sarvataḥ samplutodake
tāvān sarveṣu vedeṣu brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ
Kṛṣṇa (कृष्ण) is speaking.
The verse
As much use as a well has when water is flooded on every side, that much use do all the Vedas (वेद) have for the brahmin who discerns.
नेपालीमा
चारैतिर पानी भरिएको बेला इनारको जति काम हुन्छ, छुट्याउने ब्राह्मणका लागि सबै वेदको त्यति नै काम हुन्छ।
Where it sits
This verse does not ban the Vedas (वेद); it measures them, and for the man who already discerns their remaining use is the use of a well beside a flood. The buddhi he was told to hear is the flood.
Split: यावान् + अर्थः + उदपाने + सर्वतः + सम्प्लुत-उदके + तावान् + सर्वेषु + वेदेषु + ब्राह्मणस्य + विजानतः
yāvān + arthaḥ + udapāne + sarvataḥ + sampluta-udake + tāvān + sarveṣu + vedeṣu + brāhmaṇasya + vijānataḥ
Sanskrit, in depth
The words
| देवनागरी | Word | Grammar | Sense |
|---|---|---|---|
| यावान् | yāvān | nominative masculine | as much as. |
| अर्थः | arthaḥ | nominative | use, purpose. |
| उदपाने | udapāne | locative | in a well. A small drinking-place. |
| सर्वतः | sarvataḥ | indeclinable | on all sides. |
| सम्प्लुत-उदके | sampluta-udake | locative absolute | when the water is flooded. sampluta (सम्प्लुत) is "overflowed." |
| तावान् | tāvān | nominative masculine | that much. |
| सर्वेषु | sarveṣu | locative plural | in all. |
| वेदेषु | vedeṣu | locative plural | in the Vedas (वेद). |
| ब्राह्मणस्य | brāhmaṇasya | genitive | of the brahmin. |
| विजानतः | vijānataḥ | genitive of the participle vijānat (विजानत्) | of the one who discerns. Agrees with brāhmaṇasya (ब्राह्मणस्य). |
The phrases
यावान् अर्थः उदपाने yāvān arthaḥ udapāne is the first half of the simile. As much use as there is in a well. yāvān (यावान्) and arthaḥ (अर्थः) are both nominative. The well is locative, the place of that use.
sarvataḥ samplutodake (सर्वतः सम्प्लुतोदके) is when. When water is flooded on every side. The locative of the participle and the locative of the water make a locative absolute: the water having flooded. A well is not much, once you are standing in a flood.
tāvān sarveṣu vedeṣu (तावान् सर्वेषु वेदेषु) answers yāvān (यावान्). That much use, in all the Vedas (वेद). tāvān (तावान्) is the correlative, and its noun arthaḥ (अर्थः) is understood from the first line.
brāhmaṇasya vijānataḥ (ब्राह्मणस्य विजानतः) is the person for whom that use is being measured. Both words are genitive. The brahmin who discerns. The genitive is the person the use belongs to.
Sanskrit in this line
yāvān (यावान्) and tāvān (तावान्) are a correlative pair. "As much" is not finished until "that much" arrives. yāvān (यावान्) is the relative, tāvān (तावान्) the answer. You cannot gloss the first line as a complete thought.
The same quarter also refuses a sandhi. अर्थः + उदपाने arthaḥ + udapāne is printed artha udapāne (अर्थ उदपाने), both vowels heard. arthodapāne (अर्थोदपाने) would cost the quarter a syllable. Recite the gap.
Say it back
The well, the flood, then the Vedas (वेद) and the man they are being measured for. If tāvān (तावान्) comes out larger than yāvān (यावान्), the simile has flipped.