Shloka 22

Devanagari script

नारद उवाच उन्मत्तवेषं बिभ्रत्‌ स चड़क्रमीति यथासुखम्‌ | वाराणस्यां महाराज दर्शनेप्सुर्महेश्वरम्‌,नारदजीने कहा--महाराज! वे इस समय वाराणसीमें महेश्वर विश्वनाथके दर्शनकी इच्छासे पागलका-सा वेष धारण किये अपनी मौजसे घूम रहे हैं

Transliteration

nārada uvāca: unmattaveṣaṃ bibhrat sa caḍakramīti yathāsukham | vārāṇasyāṃ mahārāja darśanepsur maheśvaram viśvanātham ||

Translation

Narada said: “O great king, he is now roaming about in Varanasi at his own pleasure, wearing the guise of a madman, because he longs to behold Maheshvara—Vishvanatha.”

Word by Word

नारदःNarada

उवाचsaid

उन्मत्त-वेषम्a madman-like guise

बिभ्रत्bearing, wearing

सःhe

चand

चक्रमीति‘(he is) a wanderer/roamer’—thus (as said/so-called)

यथा-सुखम्at ease, as he pleases

वाराणस्याम्in Varanasi

महा-राजO great king

दर्शन-ईप्सुःdesiring to see (to have दर्शन)

महेश्वरम्Maheshvara (Shiva)

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Narada

Mahārāja (the king addressed)

Maheshvara (Shiva)

Vishvanatha

Varanasi (Vārāṇasī)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True devotion may express itself through humility and unconventional outward behavior; seeking the Lord’s darśana can outweigh concern for social status, reputation, or ordinary decorum.

What is happening in the narrative?

Narada informs the king that a person is wandering in Varanasi in the guise of a madman, driven by the desire to see Maheshvara—Vishvanatha—highlighting a pilgrimage-like pursuit of divine vision.