TEXT 27

Texte

Text

uccaiḥśravasam aśvānāṁ
viddhi mām amṛtodbhavam
airāvataṁ gajendrāṇāṁ
narāṇāṁ ca narādhipam

Synonyms

uccaiḥśravasam: Uccaiḥśravā; aśvānām: parmi les chevaux; viddhi: sache; mām: Moi; amṛta-udbhavam: issu du barattage de l’océan; airāvatam: Airāvata; gaja-indrāṇām: des nobles éléphants; narāṇām: parmi les humains; ca: et; nara-adhipam: le roi.

uccaiḥśravasam — Uccaiḥśravā; aśvānām — among horses; viddhi — know; mām — Me; amṛta-udbhavam — produced from the churning of the ocean; airāvatam — Airāvata; gaja-indrāṇām — of lordly elephants; narāṇām — among human beings; ca — and; nara-adhipam — the king.

Translation

Apprends que des chevaux, Je suis Uccaiḥśravā, né du barattage de l’océan de nectar. D’entre les nobles éléphants, Je suis Airāvata, et parmi les hommes, le monarque.

Of horses know Me to be Uccaiḥśravā, produced during the churning of the ocean for nectar. Of lordly elephants I am Airāvata, and among men I am the monarch.

Purport

Les devas (dévots du Seigneur) et les asuras (êtres démoniaques) entreprirent un jour de baratter la mer. Ils obtinrent et du nectar et du poison. Après que Śiva eut bu le poison, du nectar sortirent de merveilleuses créatures dont le cheval Uccaiḥśravā et l’éléphant Airāvata. Parce qu’ils sont nés du nectar, ces deux animaux ont une importance particulière et représentent Kṛṣṇa.

The devotee demigods and the demons (asuras) once took part in churning the sea. From this churning, nectar and poison were produced, and Lord Śiva drank the poison. From the nectar were produced many entities, of which there was a horse named Uccaiḥśravā. Another animal produced from the nectar was an elephant named Airāvata. Because these two animals were produced from nectar, they have special significance, and they are representatives of Kṛṣṇa.

Parce qu’il est choisi pour ses saintes qualités, qu’il soutient son royaume comme Kṛṣṇa soutient l’univers, le monarque est, parmi les hommes, le représentant de Dieu, à l’exemple de Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, de Mahārāja Parīkṣit et du Seigneur Rāmacandra qui furent tous trois des rois de la plus haute vertu, toujours soucieux du bien-être de leurs sujets. Les Textes védiques dépeignent le roi comme le représentant de Dieu. En cet âge, cependant, la monarchie s’est dégradée pour n’avoir su préserver les principes religieux, jusqu’à être finalement abolie. Les Écritures nous montrent toutefois que, jadis, les gens vivaient plus heureux, sous la tutelle de rois justes et vertueux.

Amongst the human beings, the king is the representative of Kṛṣṇa because Kṛṣṇa is the maintainer of the universe, and the kings, who are appointed on account of their godly qualifications, are maintainers of their kingdoms. Kings like Mahārāja Yudhiṣṭhira, Mahārāja Parīkṣit and Lord Rāma were all highly righteous kings who always thought of the citizens’ welfare. In Vedic literature, the king is considered to be the representative of God. In this age, however, with the corruption of the principles of religion, monarchy decayed and is now finally abolished. It is to be understood that in the past, however, people were more happy under righteous kings.