Shloka 1

आदि पर्व (अध्याय 26) — गरुडस्य वालखिल्य-रक्षणम्, कश्यपोपदेशः, देवोत्पात-प्रसङ्गः

Devanagari script

अ्---#क्रत षड्विशो<5ध्याय: इन्द्रद्वारा की हुई वषसि सर्पोकी प्रसन्नता सौतिर्वाच एवं स्तुतस्तदा कद्र्वा भगवान्‌ हरिवाहन: । नीलजीमूतसंघातै: सर्वमम्बरमावृणोत्‌,उग्रश्रवाजी कहते हैं--नागमाता कद्रूके इस प्रकार स्तुति करनेपर भगवान्‌ इन्द्रने मेघोंकी काली घटाओंद्वारा सम्पूर्ण आकाशको आच्छादित कर दिया

Transliteration

Sautir uvāca—evaṁ stutas tadā kadrvā bhagavān harivāhanaḥ | nīlajīmūtasaṅghātaiḥ sarvam ambaram āvṛṇot ||

Translation

Sauti sprach: Als er damals von Kadrū so gepriesen worden war, verhüllte der selige Herr—dessen Reittier Indra trägt—den ganzen Himmel mit Scharen dunkler, blau-schwarzer Regenwolken. Die Szene kündet von göttlicher Antwort auf Hingabe und bereitet die Befriedigung der Schlangen durch die lebensspendenden Regen vor.

Word by Word

• {'sautiḥ': 'Sauti (Ugraśravas), the narrator', 'uvāca': 'said', 'evaṁ': 'thus, in this manner', 'stutaḥ': 'praised, eulogized', 'tadā': 'then, at that time', 'kadrvā': 'by Kadrū (mother of the Nāgas)', 'bhagavān': 'the blessed lord

• venerable divine being', 'harivāhanaḥ': 'he whose vehicle/mount is the Hari (Indra’s horse)

• an epithet of Indra', 'nīla': 'dark blue, blue-black', 'jīmūta': 'cloud', 'saṅghāta': 'mass, cluster, multitude', 'sarvam': 'all, entire', 'ambara': 'sky, firmament', 'āvṛṇot': 'covered, enveloped'}

Speaker

पितामह उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Sauti (Ugraśravas)
• Kadrū
• Indra (Harivāhana)
• clouds (nīlajīmūta-saṅghāta)
• sky (ambara)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse highlights the ethic of reciprocity between devotion and divine response: sincere praise (stuti) is shown as efficacious, and the deity answers by restoring cosmic balance through rain-bearing clouds—suggesting that right relationship with the divine supports the welfare of beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

After Kadrū’s hymn, Indra (called Harivāhana) manifests dark cloud-masses that cover the sky, indicating the onset of rains. This prepares the narrative context in which the serpents (Nāgas) become pleased/satisfied through the resulting rainfall.