Shloka 40

Nāgendra–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Praśna-vidhi and Dharmic Approach on the Gomatī Riverbank

Devanagari script

त्वत्तो मे मानसं जन्म प्रथमं द्विजपूजितम्‌ । चाक्षुषं वै द्वितीयं मे जन्म चासीत्‌ पुरातनम्‌

Transliteration

tvatto me mānasaṃ janma prathamaṃ dvijapūjitam | cākṣuṣaṃ vai dvitīyaṃ me janma cāsīt purātanam ||

Translation

„Von dir empfing ich meine erste Geburt — einen geistigen, aus dem Manas geborenen Ursprung, geehrt von den Zweimalgeborenen. Danach, in uralter Zeit, hatte ich auch eine zweite Geburt: aus deinem Auge ging ich hervor.“

Word by Word

• {'tvattaḥ': 'from you', 'me': 'for me

• my', 'mānasam': 'mind-born

• originating from the mind', 'janma': 'birth

• origin', 'prathamam': 'first', 'dvija-pūjitam': 'honored/revered by the twice-born (Brahmins)

• esteemed among the learned', 'cākṣuṣam': 'born from the eye

• ocular in origin', 'vai': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'dvitīyam': 'second', 'cāsīt': 'was

• came to be', 'purātanam': 'ancient

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana (speaker)
• the addressed teacher/elder (unnamed in the verse)
• dvija (the twice-born/Brahmins)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the sanctity of transmission: true authority can arise through a teacher’s inner intention (mind-born) and direct empowerment (eye-born), and such origins are validated by the learned (dvijas). It highlights how knowledge and identity in dharmic tradition are grounded in guru-lineage rather than merely physical birth.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses an elder/teacher, recounting two modes of his origin: first as a mind-born creation from the addressee, esteemed by Brahmins, and later as a second, ancient birth arising from the addressee’s eye—underscoring a special, sanctified relationship and the legitimacy of his role in the tradition.