Shloka 143

Slaying of Andhaka; Hymn to the Sun; Glory of Brahmins; Gayatri Nyasa and Pranayama

Devanagari script

सप्तपंच तथा ब्रह्म यजुरष्टादशाक्षरम् । ज्वलनादिहकारांतं जले स्थित्वा शतं जपेत्

Transliteration

saptapaṃca tathā brahma yajuraṣṭādaśākṣaram | jvalanādihakārāṃtaṃ jale sthitvā śataṃ japet

Translation

Standing in water, one should repeat a hundred times the eighteen-syllabled Yajur-mantra—beginning with “jvalana” and ending with “ha-kāra”—as well as the “saptapañca” and the Brahma-mantra.

Word by Word

• सप्त: seven
• सप्त: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक (numeral), अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः (indeclinable-like numeral in enumeration)

• पञ्च: five
• पञ्च: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्च (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: संख्यावाचक (numeral), अव्ययवत् प्रयोगः (in enumeration)

• तथा: likewise/also
• तथा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb/particle)

• ब्रह्म: (the word) ‘brahma’
• ब्रह्म: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.); (मन्त्रनाम/पदनाम)

• यजुः: (the word) ‘yajuḥ’
• यजुः: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यजुस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.); (मन्त्रनाम/पदनाम)

• अष्टादश-अक्षरम्: eighteen-syllabled
• अष्टादश-अक्षरम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्टादश (प्रातिपदिक) + अक्षर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.); कर्मधारयः: अष्टादशं अक्षरं यस्य/यत्

• ज्वलन-आदि-हकार-अन्तम्: beginning with ‘jvalana’ etc., ending with ‘ha’
• ज्वलन-आदि-हकार-अन्तम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ज्वलन (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक) + हकार (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Acc. 2), एकवचन (sg.); समासः (निर्देशात्मक): ज्वलनादि…हकारान्तम् = ‘beginning with jvalana and ending with ha-kāra’

• जले: in water
• जले: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Loc. 7), एकवचन (sg.)

• स्थित्वा: having stood
• स्थित्वा: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), ‘having stood/remained’

• शतम्: a hundred (times)
• शतम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Acc. 2), एकवचन (sg.); संख्यावाचक-नाम

• जपेत्: should chant
• जपेत्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन (sg.), परस्मैपद; ‘should recite’

Speaker

Unspecified (instructional narrative voice within the chapter)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: river

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: यजुरष्टादशाक्षरम् = यजुः + अष्टादश-अक्षरम्; ज्वलनादिहकारांतं = ज्वलन-आदि-हकार-अन्तम्; (सप्त पञ्च) enumerative usage.

Characters & Entities

• Brahma

FAQs

What practice does this verse prescribe?

It prescribes mantra-japa while standing in water: repeating a specified eighteen-syllabled Yajur-mantra (noted by its opening and closing syllables), along with the ‘saptapañca’ and the Brahma-mantra, one hundred times.

Why does the verse specify “beginning with jvalana and ending with ha-kāra”?

This is a traditional way of identifying a mantra without fully quoting it—by giving its first word/syllable and its final syllable—so that practitioners who know the ritual corpus can recognize the exact formula.

What is the ethical or spiritual emphasis of the instruction?

It emphasizes disciplined repetition (japa) combined with bodily purification (standing in water), suggesting that inner focus and outer ritual cleanliness together support spiritual efficacy.