Text 54
andhāv amīṣāṁ paurāṇāṁ
nirvāk-peśaskṛtāv ubhau
akṣaṇvatām adhipatis
tābhyāṁ yāti karoti ca
andhau — blind; amīṣām — among those; paurāṇām — of the inhabitants; nirvāk — of the name Nirvāk; peśaskṛtau — of the name Peśaskṛt; ubhau — both of them; akṣaṇ-vatām — of the people who possessed eyes; adhipatiḥ — ruler; tābhyām — with both of them; yāti — used to go; karoti — used to act; ca — and.
Of the many inhabitants of this city, there are two persons named Nirvāk and Peśaskṛt. Although King Purañjana was the ruler of citizens who possessed eyes, he unfortunately used to associate with these blind men. Accompanied by them, he used to go here and there and perform various activities.
This is a reference to the arms and legs of the living entity. The two legs do not speak, and they are blind. If a person simply trusts his legs to take him walking, he is likely to fall into a hole or bump into something. Thus led by the blind legs, one’s life may be placed in jeopardy.
Of the senses that are working, the hands and legs are very important, but they have no eyes to see. This means that in the hands and legs there are no holes. In the head there are many holes — two eyes, two nostrils, two ears and one mouth — but lower down, in the arms and legs, there are no holes. Consequently, the arms and legs have been described as andha, blind. Although the living entity has many holes in his body, he nonetheless has to work with his hands and arms. Although the living entity is the master of many other senses, when he has to go somewhere, do something or touch something, he has to use his blind legs and hands.