मद्गुष्टे पादं वक्तेति स ह श्वोभूते गा अभिप्रस्थापयांचकार ता यत्राभि सायं बभूवुस्तत्राग्निमुपसमाधाय गा उपरुध्य समिधमाधाय पश्चादग्नेः प्राङुपोपविवेश ॥ ४.८.१ ॥
madguṣṭe pādaṃ vakteti sa ha śvobhūte gā abhiprasthāpayāṃcakāra tā yatrābhi sāyaṃ babhūvustatrāgnimupasamādhāya gā uparudhya samidhamādhāya paścādagneḥ prāṅupopaviveśa || 4.8.1 ||
1. [Then the swan said,] ‘The madgu will tell you about another foot of Brahman.’ The next day Satyakāma collected the cows and drove them towards his teacher’s house. At dusk they arrived at a place [where they halted for the night]. Having confined the cows and collected some fuel, he lit a fire and sat down just behind it facing east.
Word-for-word explanation:
Madguḥ te pādam vaktā iti, the diver-bird will tell you about [another] foot; saḥ ha śvaḥ-bhūte gāḥ abhiprasthāpayāñcakāra, the next day he led the cows [towards his teacher’s house]; yatra sāyam, when it was dusk; tāḥ abhi-babhūvuḥ, they arrived at a place; tatra agnim upasamādhāya, having made a fire there; gāḥ uparudhya, keeping the cows confined; samidham ādhāya, having collected fuel; paścāt agneḥ, behind the fire; prāk upa-upaviveśa, sat facing the east.
Commentary:
The madgu, or diver-bird, is most of the time in water. Because of its close connection with water, and because water sustains life, the diver-bird stands for life (prāṇa).