Chapter 3
स तेपे मन्दरद्रोण्यां तप: परमदारुणम् । ऊर्ध्वबाहुर्नभोदृष्टि: पादाङ्गुष्ठाश्रितावनि: ॥ २ ॥
Transliteration
sa tepe mandara-droṇyāṁ tapaḥ parama-dāruṇam ūrdhva-bāhur nabho-dṛṣṭiḥ pādāṅguṣṭhāśritāvaniḥ
Synonyms (Word-for-Word)
saḥ — he (Hiraṇyakaśipu); tepe — performed; mandara-droṇyām — in a valley of Mandara Hill; tapaḥ — austerity; parama — most; dāruṇam — difficult; ūrdhva — raising; bāhuḥ — arms; nabhaḥ — toward the sky; dṛṣṭiḥ — his vision; pāda-aṅguṣṭha — with the big toes of his feet; āśrita — resting on; avaniḥ — the ground.
Translation
“In the valley of Mandara Hill, Hiraṇyakaśipu began performing his austerities by standing with his toes on the ground, keeping his arms upward and looking toward the sky. This position was extremely difficult, but he accepted it as a means to attain perfection.”