पाशब्देन त्रयीधर्म्मः पालनाज्जगतां स्मृतः ।
तं षण्डयन्ति यस्मात्ते पाषण्डास्तेन हेतुना ॥
pā-śabdena trayī-dharmaḥ pālanāj jagatāṁ smṛtaḥ |
taṁ ṣaṇḍayanti yasmāt te pāṣaṇḍās tena hetunā ||
(Brahma-vaivara Purāṇa)
“The dharma of the three Vedas [viz., the Ṛk, Sāma, and Yajur] is referred to by the syllable pā as per [the established meaning of the syllable pā of] ‘preservation’ (pālana) of the world [i.e., the syllable pā in the word pāṣaṇḍa is used in the sense of pālana, ‘preserving,’ rather than in the alternate sense of ‘drinking’ that the syllable pā can also convey, because Vedic dharma is regarded as being essential for the preservation of the world]. They are known as pāṣaṇḍas because they diminish (ṣaṇḍayanti—khaṇḍayanti) that [viz., Vedic dharma].”
Alternate version
pālanāc ca trayī-dharmaḥ pā-śabdena nigadyate |
ṣaṇḍayanti tu taṁ yasmāt pāṣaṇḍās tena kīrtitaḥ ||
(Unknown source; cited in Śabda-kalpa-druma)
“And the dharma of the three Vedas [viz., the Ṛk, Sāma, and Yajur] is referred to by the syllable pā as per [the established meaning of the syllable pā of] ‘preserving’ (pālana) [i.e., the syllable pā in the word pāṣaṇḍa is used in the sense of pālana, ‘preserving,’ rather than in the alternate sense of ‘drinking’ that the syllable pā can also convey, because Vedic dharma is regarded as being essential for the preservation of the world]. They are known as pāṣaṇḍas because they diminish (ṣaṇḍayanti—khaṇḍayanti) that [viz., Vedic dharma].”