Shloka 26
Nāgendra–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Praśna-vidhi and Dharmic Approach on the Gomatī Riverbank
तथा च न: श्रुतो ब्रह्मन् कथ्यमानस्त्वयानघ । निष्पाप सूतपुत्र! भगवान् महावराहने जो प्राचीन कालमें पिण्डोंकी उत्पत्ति करके पिण्डदानकी मर्यादा चलायी तथा प्रवृत्ति और निवृत्तिके विषयमें जिस विधिकी जैसी कल्पना की, वह सब आपके मुखसे हमलोंगोंने सुना,स तामसो मधुर्जातस्तदा नारायणाज्ञया | कठिनस्त्वपरो बिन्दु: कैटभो राजसस्तु सः
tathā ca naḥ śruto brahman kathyamānas tvayānagha | niṣpāpa sūtaputra! bhagavān mahāvarāhaḥ yena prācīna-kāle piṇḍānām utpattiṃ kṛtvā piṇḍadānasya maryādāṃ calāyām āsa tathā pravṛtti-nivṛttyoḥ viṣaye yathāvidhi yathākalpanāṃ cakāra tat sarvaṃ tava mukhād asmābhiḥ śrutam | sa tāmaso madhur jātas tadā nārāyaṇājñayā | kaṭhinas tv aparo binduḥ kaiṭabho rājasas tu saḥ ||
Śaunaka said: “O Brahmin, O sinless one! We have indeed heard from you—O blameless son of a sūta—everything: how the Blessed Lord, the Great Boar, in ancient times brought forth the origin of the piṇḍas and established the proper ordinance of piṇḍa-offerings, and how he set forth the rule as it should be regarding the paths of worldly engagement (pravṛtti) and renunciation (nivṛtti). By Nārāyaṇa’s command, Madhu was then born of the tamasic principle; and another, a hard drop, became Kaiṭabha, born of the rajasic principle.”
शौनक उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse links ethical-religious order to divine ordinance: proper ancestral rites (piṇḍadāna) and the balanced understanding of pravṛtti (duty in the world) and nivṛtti (renunciation) are presented as established by the Lord. It also frames cosmic beings (Madhu and Kaiṭabha) as arising from the guṇas under Nārāyaṇa’s will, implying that even disorderly forces have a place within a divinely governed cosmos.
Śaunaka addresses the narrator (a sūta’s son) and confirms that he has heard the account of the Lord as Mahāvarāha instituting piṇḍa-offerings and explaining pravṛtti and nivṛtti. The verse then continues the cosmogonic thread: by Nārāyaṇa’s command, Madhu is said to be born from tamas, and Kaiṭabha from a hard ‘drop’ associated with rajas.