Shloka 15

पञ्चमहाभूतगुण-इन्द्रियनिग्रह-उपदेशः | Teaching on the Qualities of the Five Elements and Sense-Control

Devanagari script

ब्रह्म वेदाश्न वेद्यं च त्वया सृष्टं महाद्युते । शिरस्ते गगन देव नेत्र शशिदिवाकरौ,महातेजस्वी परमेश्वर! ब्रह्मा, वेद और जाननेयोग्य सभी वस्तुएँ आपने ही उत्पन्न की हैं। देव! आकाश आपका मस्तक है। चन्द्रमा और सूर्य नेत्र हैं। वायु श्वास है तथा अग्नि आपका तेज है। अच्युत! सम्पूर्ण दिशाएँ आपकी भुजाएँ और महासागर आपका कुक्षिस्थान है। देव! मधुसूदन! पर्वत आपके ऊरु और अन्तरिक्ष-लोक आपकी नाभि है। पृथ्वीदेवी आपके चरण तथा ओषधियाँ रोएँ हैं

Transliteration

brahma vedāś ca vedyam ca tvayā sṛṣṭaṃ mahādyute | śiras te gaganaṃ deva netre śaśidivākarau |

Translation

Uttaṅka said: “O mighty Lord, you have brought forth Brahmā, the Vedas, and all that is knowable. O God, the sky is your head; the moon and the sun are your eyes.”

Word by Word

ब्रह्मBrahmā / the Creator (Brahman as a being here)

वेदाःthe Vedas

अश्नyou eat / consume

वेद्यम्that which is to be known

चand

त्वयाby you

सृष्टम्created

महाद्युतेO great-lustrous one

Speaker

उत्तडुक उवाच

Characters & Entities

Uttanka (Uttaṅka)

Brahmā

Vedas

Deva (the addressed deity, identified in context as Viṣṇu/Madhusūdana/Acyuta in the extended passage)

Sky (gagana)

Moon (śaśi/candra)

Sun (divākara/sūrya)

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches a devotional vision of the Supreme as the source of creation and knowledge, and as immanent in the cosmos—natural phenomena are understood as limbs and powers of the divine.

What is happening in the narrative?

Uttanka addresses the deity with a hymn of praise, describing the Lord’s cosmic body and affirming that Brahmā, the Vedas, and all knowable things originate from him.