Shloka 22

नारद–शुक संवादः

Impermanence, Svabhāva, and Śuka’s Resolve for Yoga

Devanagari script

बीजमेतत्‌ पुरस्कृत्य देवीं चैव सरस्वतीम्‌ । सूर्यस्य चानुभावेन प्रवृत्तोडहं नराधिप

Transliteration

bījam etat puraskṛtya devīṁ caiva sarasvatīm | sūryasya cānubhāvena pravṛtto ’haṁ narādhipa nareśvara | tadantaram mayā bījarūpaḥ praṇavaḥ sarasvatī ca devī puraskṛtya bhagavataḥ sūryasya kṛpayā śatapathasya racanā ārabdhā | etam apūrvaṁ granthaṁ samāpya ca yaḥ mokṣamārgo mamābhīṣṭaḥ sa api bhūyaḥ samyak sampāditaḥ ||

Translation

Yājñavalkya said: “Placing this seed-principle foremost, and also the goddess Sarasvatī, and empowered by the radiance of the Sun, I set to work, O king, lord of men. Thereafter, keeping before me the Praṇava, Oṃ, as the seed-form and Sarasvatī, by the grace of the venerable Sun I began the composition of the Śatapatha. Having completed this unprecedented treatise, I also duly accomplished the path to liberation that I sought.”

Word by Word

• {'bījam': 'seed

• foundational cause', 'etat': 'this', 'puraskṛtya': 'placing in front

• taking as one’s foremost support', 'devīm': 'goddess (accusative singular)', 'sarasvatīm': 'Sarasvatī, goddess of speech/learning', 'sūryasya': 'of the Sun (Sūrya)', 'anubhāvena': 'by power, influence, majesty, radiance', 'pravṛttaḥ': 'set in motion

• commenced', 'aham': 'I', 'narādhipa / nareśvara': 'O king

• ruler of men', 'praṇavaḥ': 'the sacred syllable Om', 'bījarūpaḥ': 'in the form of a seed

• seed-like essence', 'kṛpayā': 'by grace

• through favor', 'śatapatha': 'Śatapatha (Brāhmaṇa)

• lit. ‘hundred paths’', 'racanā': 'composition

• authorship', 'ārabdhā': 'begun

• undertaken', 'apūrvaḥ': 'unprecedented

• extraordinary', 'granthaḥ': 'treatise

• text', 'samāpya': 'having completed', 'mokṣa-mārgaḥ': 'path to liberation', 'abhīṣṭaḥ': 'desired

• sought', 'samyak': 'properly

• thoroughly', 'sampāditaḥ': 'accomplished

Speaker

याज़्ञवल्क्य उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yājñavalkya
• Sarasvatī
• Sūrya (Sun-god)
• Praṇava (Om)
• Śatapatha (Śatapatha Brāhmaṇa)
• Narādhipa/Nareśvara (the king addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

True knowledge and liberation arise from a disciplined beginning: honoring the foundational ‘seed’ (praṇava/Om), invoking the power of speech and learning (Sarasvatī), and relying on divine illumination (Sūrya). Scholarship is presented as a sacred act that culminates not merely in a text, but in the realization of mokṣa.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yājñavalkya addresses a king and recounts how, empowered by the Sun’s grace and with Sarasvatī and the praṇava held foremost, he commenced and completed the composition of the Śatapatha. He adds that alongside finishing this extraordinary work, he also fulfilled his intended pursuit of the path to liberation.