Shloka 14

नारद-देवमत-संवादः

Nārada–Devamata Dialogue on Prāṇa, Apāna, and Udāna

Devanagari script

अहोरात्रमिदं द्वद्ध॑ तयोर्मध्ये हुताशन: । एतद्‌ रूपमुदानस्य परम॑ ब्राह्मणा विदु:,ये दिन और रात द्वन्द्द हैं, इनके मध्यभागमें अग्नि हैं। ब्राह्मगलोग इसीको उदानका उत्कृष्ट रूप मानते हैं

Transliteration

ahorātram idaṃ dvandvaṃ tayor madhye hutāśanaḥ | etad rūpam udānasya paramaṃ brāhmaṇā viduḥ ||

Translation

Nārada sprach: „Tag und Nacht bilden ein Paar von Gegensätzen; zwischen ihnen steht das heilige Feuer. Die Brāhmaṇas wissen, dass dies die höchste Erscheinungsform von udāna ist — der aufwärts gerichteten Lebenskraft — durch die das Leben getragen und gelenkt wird.“

Word by Word

अहोरात्रम्day-and-night (as a pair)

इदम्this

द्वन्द्वम्a pair/opposition; duality

तयोःof those two (of them both)

मध्येin the middle

हुताशनःAgni, the fire (lit. eater of offerings)

एतत्this (as described)

रूपम्form; nature

उदानस्यof udāna (the upward vital air)

परम्supreme; excellent

ब्राह्मणाःBrahmins; learned men

विदुःknow; consider

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Agni (hutāśana)

udāna (vital breath)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a symbolic correspondence: the duality of day and night frames human experience, and the ‘fire in the middle’ represents a regulating, elevating principle—identified with udāna, the upward-moving vital force. Ethically, it points to inner steadiness and disciplined uplift amid life’s alternating conditions.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is instructing by using Vedic imagery. He explains a contemplative mapping of cosmic phenomena (day/night and fire) onto subtle physiology (udāna), presenting how learned Brahmanas interpret this as a supreme form or sign of that vital principle.