Shloka 23

Matsya Purana — Catalogue of the Eighteen Puranas

Devanagari script

यत्राह नारदो धर्मान् बृहत्कल्पाश्रयाणि च पञ्चविंशत्सहस्राणि नारदीयं तदुच्यते //

Transliteration

yatrāha nārado dharmān bṛhatkalpāśrayāṇi ca pañcaviṃśatsahasrāṇi nāradīyaṃ taducyate //

Translation

That work in which Nārada expounds the principles of dharma, together with matters grounded in the Great Kalpa, and which extends to twenty-five thousand verses, is called the Nāradīya Purāṇa.

Word by Word

• yatra: wherein/in which

• āha: said/declared

• nāradaḥ: Nārada

• dharmān: dharmas, duties, religious principles

• bṛhat-kalpa-āśrayāṇi: based upon/grounded in the Bṛhat Kalpa (the Great Kalpa)

• ca: and

• pañcaviṃśat-sahasrāṇi: twenty-five thousand (in number)

• nāradīyam: the Nāradīya (Purāṇa/text)

• tat: that

• ucyate: is called/ is said to be

Speaker

• Sūta (Purāṇic narrator) describing the Nāradīya as a text-classification within the Matsya Purāṇa’s cataloguing style

Entities Mentioned

• Nārada
• Dharma
• Bṛhat Kalpa
• Nāradīya Purāṇa

Tags

• Dharma
• Purana classification
• Kalpa
• Textual tradition
• Verse count

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It does not narrate Pralaya directly; it situates dharma-teachings within a Kalpa framework (“Bṛhat Kalpa”), implying a cosmic timescale context rather than a flood/dissolution episode.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

By identifying a dharma-focused source attributed to Nārada, it points readers toward a tradition of practical ethical duties (rāja-dharma and gṛhastha-dharma) preserved and systematized in Purāṇic literature.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No explicit Vāstu or iconography rule appears here; the verse is bibliographic—defining the Nāradīya by its dharma content, Kalpa-basis, and length (25,000 verses).