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Shloka 13

हंस-वराह-रूपग्रहण-कारणम्

The Reason for Assuming the Swan and Boar Forms

सृष्टिप्रवृत्तिकामस्य कथं ज्ञानं प्रजायते । यतो लब्धो विवेकोऽपि न मया हंसरूपिणा

sṛṣṭipravṛttikāmasya kathaṃ jñānaṃ prajāyate | yato labdho viveko'pi na mayā haṃsarūpiṇā

For one driven by the urge to set creation in motion, how can true knowledge arise? Even I—though in the form of the Haṃsa—have not attained that discerning wisdom by which Reality is rightly known.

sṛṣṭi-pravṛtti-kāmasyaof (one) desirous of creative activity
sṛṣṭi-pravṛtti-kāmasya:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
TypeAdjective
Rootsṛṣṭi (प्रातिपदिक) + pravṛtti (प्रातिपदिक) + kāma (प्रातिपदिक)
FormPuṃliṅga (पुंलिङ्ग), Ṣaṣṭhī (6th/षष्ठी) Singular (एकवचन); Tatpuruṣa ‘of one desiring engagement in creation’; genitive qualifier (implicit ‘mama/asya’)
kathamhow
katham:
Prakāra (प्रकार/Manner)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootkatham (अव्यय)
FormPraśna-avyaya (प्रश्न/interrogative adverb)
jñānamknowledge
jñānam:
Kartā (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootjñāna (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNapumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Prathamā (1st/प्रथमा) Singular (एकवचन)
prajāyatearises, is born
prajāyate:
Kriyā (क्रिया/Verb)
TypeVerb
Rootpra√jan (धातु)
FormLaṭ-lakāra (लट्/Present), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd/प्रथमपुरुष), Eka-vacana (एकवचन), Ātmanepada (आत्मनेपद)
yataḥsince/because
yataḥ:
Hetu (हेतु/Cause)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootyataḥ (अव्यय)
FormKāraṇa-avyaya (कारण/causal indeclinable)
labdhaḥobtained
labdhaḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया/Predicate participle)
TypeVerb
Root√labh (धातु)
FormKṛdanta: Past Passive Participle (क्त), Puṃliṅga, Prathamā Singular; agrees with ‘vivekaḥ’
vivekaḥdiscernment
vivekaḥ:
Kartā (कर्ता/Subject)
TypeNoun
Rootviveka (प्रातिपदिक)
FormPuṃliṅga, Prathamā Singular
apieven/also
api:
Sambandha-bhāva (सम्बन्ध/Addition)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootapi (अव्यय)
FormSambhāvanā/Samuccaya-avyaya (अपि/also, even)
nanot
na:
Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध/Negation)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootna (अव्यय)
FormNiṣedha-avyaya (निषेध/negative particle)
mayāby me
mayā:
Kartā (कर्ता/Agent in passive sense)
TypeNoun
Rootasmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormSarvanāma (सर्वनाम), Tṛtīyā (3rd/तृतीया) Singular (एकवचन)
haṃsa-rūpiṇā(by me) in swan-form
haṃsa-rūpiṇā:
Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
TypeAdjective
Roothaṃsa (प्रातिपदिक) + rūpin (प्रातिपदिक)
FormPuṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā (3rd/तृतीया) Singular; Tatpuruṣa ‘having the form of a swan’; qualifies ‘mayā’

Brahma (reflecting on the limits of knowledge while engaged in creation)

Tattva Level: pashu

Shiva Form: Sadyojāta

B
Brahma
S
Shiva

FAQs

It teaches that jñāna (liberating knowledge) does not arise from desire-driven outward activity; true viveka dawns when the mind turns from pravṛtti toward the Supreme Pati, Shiva.

It implies that creation-oriented ambition cannot yield final clarity; worship of Shiva—often through the Linga as Saguna support—purifies the mind and leads to viveka that culminates in knowledge of Shiva beyond form.

A practical takeaway is to reduce desire-driven agitation and take up Shiva-japa (especially the Panchakshara, “Om Namaḥ Śivāya”) with contemplative discrimination (viveka) to steady the mind toward moksha.