Shloka 3

Matsya Purana — Nārāyaṇa as Haṃsa in the Cosmic Ocean: Vedic Yajña-Puruṣa and Mārkaṇḍeya’s Vi...

Devanagari script

आत्मरूपप्रकाशेन तमसा संवृतः प्रभुः मनः सात्त्विकमाधाय यत्र तत्सत्यमासत //

Transliteration

ātmarūpaprakāśena tamasā saṃvṛtaḥ prabhuḥ manaḥ sāttvikamādhāya yatra tatsatyamāsata //

Translation

Though the Lord is self-luminous in His own essential form, He is (as it were) veiled by darkness; and there, having established the mind in sattva (clarity), that Reality is truly realized.

Word by Word

• ātma-rūpa-prakāśena: by the radiance of His own true form

• tamasā: by darkness/ignorance

• saṃvṛtaḥ: covered/veiled

• prabhuḥ: the Lord, the Supreme

• manaḥ: the mind

• sāttvikam: sattvic, pure, lucid

• ādhāya: having placed/established

• yatra: where/in which state

• tat: that (Supreme Reality)

• satyam: truth/reality

• āsata: is/abides/is realized as present (truly exists there)

Speaker

• Lord Matsya (in instruction to Vaivasvata Manu, cosmological/gnostic teaching context)

Entities Mentioned

• Prabhu (Supreme Lord)
• Tamas
• Sattva
• Manas (Mind)

Tags

• Pralaya
• Cosmology
• Sattva
• Tamas
• Jnana

FAQs

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

It frames cosmic experience during dissolution/obscuration as dominated by tamas (darkness), while asserting that the Supreme remains self-luminous; realization of truth depends on establishing the mind in sattva.

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

It implies that right governance and household life should cultivate sattva—clarity, restraint, and discernment—because truth is apprehended through a purified mind rather than through tamasic confusion.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No direct Vastu or iconographic rule is stated; ritually, it supports the principle that purification (sattva) is the prerequisite for effective worship, meditation, and truth-oriented rites.