Shloka 24
Nāgendra–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Praśna-vidhi and Dharmic Approach on the Gomatī Riverbank
पूर्वमेव च पद्मस्य पत्रे सूर्याशुसप्र भे । नारायणकृतौ बिन्दू अपामास्तां गुणोत्तरो,वे जिस कमलपर बैठे थे, उसका पत्ता सूर्यके समान देदीप्यमान होता था। उसपर पहलेसे ही भगवान् नारायणकी प्रेरणासे जलकी बूँदें पड़ी थीं, जो रजोगुण और तमोगुणकी प्रतीक थीं
vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | pūrvam eva ca padmasya patre sūryāṃśu-saprabhe | nārāyaṇa-kṛtau bindū apām āstāṃ guṇottarau ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana said: On the lotus leaf—already radiant like the sun’s rays—there were, from the very beginning, drops of water placed by Nārāyaṇa’s agency. Those drops stood as signs of the guṇas emerging within creation, and of the divine ordering behind their appearance.
वैशग्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse frames the guṇas as part of an ordered cosmic unfolding under divine governance: even the earliest manifestations (symbolized by water-drops on a radiant lotus leaf) occur through Nārāyaṇa’s agency, implying that moral and spiritual discernment requires understanding how rajas and tamas arise and are to be regulated rather than blindly followed.
Vaiśaṃpāyana describes a primordial scene involving a radiant lotus leaf and water-drops placed there by Nārāyaṇa. The imagery functions as a symbolic account of creation and the appearance of the guṇa-principles, setting up a philosophical explanation within Śānti Parva’s reflective discourse.