Shloka 4

हिरण्यपुरवर्णनम्

Description of Hiraṇyapura and the Nivātakavacas

Devanagari script

अत्रामृतं सुरै: पीत्वा निहित॑ निहतारिभि: । अत: सोमस्य हानिश्च वृद्धिश्वैव प्रदृश्यते,देवताओंने अपने शत्रुओंका संहार करके अमृत पीकर उसका अवशिष्ट भाग यहीं रख दिया था। इसीलिये अमृतमय सोमकी हानि और वृद्धि देखी जाती है

Transliteration

atrāmṛtaṃ suraiḥ pītvā nihitaṃ nihatāribhiḥ | ataḥ somasya hāniś ca vṛddhiś caiva pradṛśyate ||

Translation

Nārada sprach: „Hier, nachdem die Götter ihre Feinde erschlagen hatten, tranken sie den Nektar und legten das Übrige an eben diesem Ort nieder. Darum sieht man bei Soma sowohl Abnahme als auch Zunahme—sein Schwinden und sein Wachsen, sein Ab- und Zunehmen—hervorgehend aus jenem verbleibenden Nektar.“

Word by Word

अत्रhere

अमृतम्nectar, ambrosia

सुरैःby the gods

पीत्वाhaving drunk

निहितम्placed, deposited

निहत-अरिभिःby those whose enemies were slain / by slayers of enemies

अतःtherefore, from this

सोमस्यof Soma

हानिःdecrease, waning

चand

वृद्धिःincrease, waxing

चand

एवindeed, just

प्रदृश्यतेis seen, appears

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Sura (Devas)

Amṛta

Soma (Moon/Soma)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

War Context

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse offers an etiological explanation for a cosmic rhythm: Soma’s waxing and waning is linked to a divine act and its residue, suggesting that observable natural cycles are grounded in a moral-mythic order shaped by the deeds of higher beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada explains that the gods, after defeating their enemies, drank amṛta and left the remaining portion at that spot; this leftover is presented as the reason Soma is seen to diminish and increase over time.