Shloka 26

प्रलय-प्रक्रिया (Pralaya Process) — Guṇa-Withdrawal and Pratisaṃcara

Devanagari script

श्रीरवाच एष मे निहित: पादो यो5यमग्नौ प्रतिष्ठित: । चतुर्थ शक्र पादं मे तस्मात्‌ सुनिहितं कुरु

Transliteration

śrīr uvāca: eṣa me nihitaḥ pādo yo ’yam agnau pratiṣṭhitaḥ | caturthaṃ śakra pādaṃ me tasmāt sunihitaṃ kuru ||

Translation

Śrī (Lakṣmī) sprach: „Dies ist mein Fuß, der in Agni (dem Feuer) gesetzt und nun fest gegründet ist. Darum, o Śakra (Indra), begründe meinen vierten Fuß wohl.“

Word by Word

• श्रीः: Lakṣmī (Śrī)
• श्रीः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्री (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Nominative, Singular

• उवाच: said
• Type: Verb
• Root: वच् (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (Paroksha-bhuta), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• एषः: this
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• मे: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• निहितः: placed, deposited
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नि-धा (धातु) → निहित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पादः: foot; quarter/part (pāda)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• यः: which
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अयम्: this (here)
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• अग्नौ: in fire (Agni)
• अग्नौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• प्रतिष्ठितः: established, set
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रति-स्था (धातु) → प्रतिष्ठित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• चतुर्थ: O fourth (one)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर्थ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• शक्र: O Śakra (Indra)
• शक्र: Sampradana
• Type: Noun
• Root: शक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पादम्: foot; quarter/part (pāda)
• पादम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• मे: of me / my
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Genitive, Singular

• तस्मात्: therefore; from that
• तस्मात्: Apadana
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative, Singular

• सुनिहितम्: well-placed, firmly deposited
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु- (उपसर्ग/अव्यय) + निहित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, क्त)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• कुरु: do; make; establish
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: Imperative, 2nd, Singular, Parasmaipada

Speaker

शक्र उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Śrī (Lakṣmī)
• Śakra (Indra)
• Agni (fire/deity)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Prosperity (Śrī) is not random; it stands on specific ‘supports’ (pādas). For it to remain stable, those supports must be properly established—suggesting that power and wealth endure only when grounded in right order and ethical foundations.

What is happening in the narrative?

Śrī (Lakṣmī) addresses Indra (Śakra), stating that one of her symbolic ‘feet’ has been set in Agni and instructing him to establish her fourth foot well—continuing a didactic exchange about how prosperity is secured and maintained.