Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 76
The Description of the Four Durgā Mantras
लोकपालांस्ततो दिक्षु तेषामस्त्राणि तद्बहिः । पूर्वजन्मकृतैः पुण्यैर्ज्ञात्वैनां परदेवताम् ॥ ७६ ॥
lokapālāṃstato dikṣu teṣāmastrāṇi tadbahiḥ | pūrvajanmakṛtaiḥ puṇyairjñātvaināṃ paradevatām || 76 ||
Dann erblickte er in den verschiedenen Himmelsrichtungen die Hüter der Welten (Lokapālas) und außerhalb von ihnen ihre Waffen; und kraft der in früheren Geburten erworbenen Verdienste erkannte er Sie als die höchste Gottheit.
Narada (within the Narada–Sanatkumara dialogue framework)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It teaches that true recognition of the Supreme Deity is not merely visual or intellectual; it arises from accumulated spiritual merit (puṇya) earned through dharmic actions across lifetimes.
By implying that prior righteous living and reverence for the divine refine perception, the verse supports bhakti as a ripening process—devotion deepens until one can recognize the Supreme even amid celestial powers like the lokapālas and their weapons.
The verse reflects the traditional cosmological mapping of directions (dik) and their presiding deities (lokapālas), a framework used in ritual orientation and sacred-space arrangement (dik-vidhāna) in Vedic practice.