Shloka 6

Viṣṇor Māhātmya and Indriya-saṃyama (विष्णोर्माहात्म्यं तथा इन्द्रियसंयमः)

Devanagari script

तस्य भार्या व्रतकृशा शुचि: पुष्करधारिणी । यज्ञपत्नी समानीता सत्येनानुविधीयते,उस ब्राह्मणके एक पत्नी थी, जिसका नाम था पुष्करधारिणी। उसके आचार-विचार परम पवित्र थे। वह व्रत-उपवास करते-करते दुर्बल हो गयी थी। ब्राह्मणका नाम सत्य था। यद्यपि वह ब्राह्मणी अपने पति सत्यके हिंसाप्रधान यज्ञकी इच्छा प्रकट करनेपर उसके अनुकूल नहीं होती थी, तो भी ब्राह्मण उसे यज्ञपत्नीके स्थानपर आग्रहपूर्वक बुला ही लाता था

Transliteration

tasya bhāryā vratakṛśā śuciḥ puṣkaradhāriṇī | yajñapatnī samānītā satyenānuvidhīyate ||

Translation

Nārada sagte: „Seine Frau Puṣkaradhāriṇī war rein im Wandel und durch Gelübde und Fasten mager geworden. Man führte sie als yajñapatnī, als Opfergattin, herbei, und sie fügte sich Satya.“

Word by Word

तस्यof him/that (brahmin)

भार्याwife

व्रत-कृशाemaciated by vows/fasts

शुचिःpure

पुष्कर-धारिणीbearing a lotus; (name) Puṣkaradhāriṇī

यज्ञ-पत्नीthe sacrificial wife (wife participating in the rite)

समानीताhaving been brought/led (here)

सत्येनby Satya (the brahmin)

अनुविधीयतेis made to follow / is constrained to comply

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Satya (brāhmaṇa)

Puṣkaradhāriṇī (wife; yajñapatnī)

Yajña (sacrifice)

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 highlights the tension between ritual obligation and personal disposition: the wife is portrayed as morally pure and ascetic, yet she is summoned to fulfill the formal role of yajñapatnī, underscoring how dharma in household life can involve compliance with prescribed duties even amid ethical unease.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes Satya’s wife Puṣkaradhāriṇī—pure and weakened by vows—being brought to participate as the sacrificial wife in a yajña, and she follows Satya’s direction in that ritual context.