Shloka 83

Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon

Devanagari script

यथा समुद्रात्‌ प्रसूता जलौघा- स्तमेव राजन्‌ पुनराविशन्ति । इमे तथा ज्ञानमहाजलौघा नारायणं वै पुनराविशन्ति,राजन! जैसे सारे जल-प्रवाह समुद्रसे ही प्रसारको प्राप्त होते हैं और फिर उस समुद्रमें ही आकर मिल जाते हैं, उसी प्रकार ज्ञानरूपी जलके महान्‌ प्रवाह नारायणसे ही प्रकट होकर फिर उन्हींमें लीन हो जाते हैं

Transliteration

yathā samudrāt prasūtā jalaughās tameva rājan punar āviśanti | ime tathā jñāna-mahā-jalaughā nārāyaṇaṃ vai punar āviśanti, rājan |

Translation

Vaiśampāyana sprach: Wie die vielen Wasserströme aus dem Ozean hervorgehen und, o König, in eben diesen Ozean wieder einmünden, so entspringen auch diese mächtigen Ströme der Erkenntnis aus Nārāyaṇa und, o König, kehren zurück und gehen in Ihm allein auf.

Word by Word

• {'yathā': 'just as, in the same way as', 'samudrāt': 'from the ocean (ablative of samudra)', 'prasūtāḥ': 'born, produced, arisen', 'jalaughāḥ': 'floods/streams of water

• torrents (jala + ogha)', 'tam eva': 'that very (one) alone', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'punar': 'again, once more', 'āviśanti': 'they enter, they merge into', 'ime': 'these', 'tathā': 'so, likewise', 'jñāna': 'knowledge, wisdom', 'mahā': 'great, mighty', 'nārāyaṇam': 'Nārāyaṇa (the supreme divine principle/person)', 'vai': 'indeed, certainly'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Nārāyaṇa
• samudra (ocean)
• rājan (the king, i.e., the listener addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All currents of knowledge originate from Nārāyaṇa and ultimately culminate by merging back into Him—like rivers or torrents that arise from the ocean and return to it—implying a single ultimate source and end of wisdom.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and uses an ocean-and-torrents analogy to explain a doctrinal point in the Śānti Parva: diverse teachings and insights are portrayed as emanations from Nārāyaṇa that finally resolve into the same supreme reality.