Shloka 1

Matsya Purana — Dialogue of Aṣṭaka and Yayāti: Exhaustion of Merit

Devanagari script

*अष्टक उवाच यदा वसन्नन्दने कामरूपे संवत्सराणामयुतं शतानाम् किंकारणं कार्तयुगप्रधान हित्वा तद्वै वसुधाम् अन्वपद्यः //

Transliteration

*aṣṭaka uvāca yadā vasannandane kāmarūpe saṃvatsarāṇāmayutaṃ śatānām kiṃkāraṇaṃ kārtayugapradhāna hitvā tadvai vasudhām anvapadyaḥ //

Translation

Aṣṭaka said: “When you dwelt in Nandana, in Kāmarūpa, for ten thousand hundreds of years, for what reason, O foremost one of the Kṛta Yuga, did you abandon that very land and depart elsewhere?”

Word by Word

• अष्टक (aṣṭaka): Aṣṭaka

• उवाच (uvāca): said

• यदा (yadā): when

• वसन्/वसन् (vasan): dwelling

• नन्दने (nandane): in Nandana (a delightful grove/region)

• कामरूपे (kāmarūpe): in Kāmarūpa (a region-name)

• संवत्सराणाम् (saṃvatsarāṇām): of years

• अयुतम् (ayutam): ten thousand

• शतानाम् (śatānām): of hundreds

• किंकारणम् (kiṃ-kāraṇam): for what reason/cause

• कृतयुगप्रधान (kṛta-yuga-pradhāna): foremost/excellent as in the Kṛta Yuga (address of high virtue/ancient excellence)

• हित्वा (hitvā): having abandoned

• तत् (tat): that

• वै (vai): indeed

• वसुधाम् (vasudhām): land/earth/region

• अन्वपद्यः (anvapadyaḥ): you went after/you departed/you proceeded (from there).

Speaker

• Aṣṭaka

Entities Mentioned

• Aṣṭaka
• Nandana
• Kāmarūpa
• Kṛta Yuga

Tags

• Genealogy
• Royal sages
• Kāmarūpa
• Kṛta Yuga
• Puranic dialogue

FAQs

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

This verse does not describe Pralaya; it frames a narrative inquiry about an extraordinarily long residence in Kāmarūpa and the reason for leaving, reflecting Purāṇic time-scales rather than cosmic dissolution.

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

Indirectly, it highlights the Purāṇic ideal of place-based dharma: even a long-established residence may be renounced for a higher cause (duty, vow, exile, pilgrimage, or political necessity), prompting inquiry into the ethical reason behind relocation.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No explicit Vāstu or ritual rule is stated; the only locational cue is “Nandana in Kāmarūpa,” which functions as a sacred/geographic setting rather than a technical architectural instruction.