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Shloka 32

Devanagari script

पादेषु वेदास् तव यूपदंष्ट्र दन्तेषु यज्ञाश् चितयश् च वक्त्रे हुताशजिह्वो ऽसि तनूरुहाणि दर्भाः प्रभो यज्ञपुमांस् त्वम् एव

Transliteration

pādeṣu vedās tava yūpadaṃṣṭra danteṣu yajñāś citayaś ca vaktre hutāśajihvo 'si tanūruhāṇi darbhāḥ prabho yajñapumāṃs tvam eva

Translation

In Your feet abide the Vedas; Your fangs are the sacrificial posts. In Your teeth are the rites of yajña, and in Your mouth the altar-fires and the piled sacrificial hearths. You are the tongue of Agni who bears the oblation; the hairs upon Your body are darbha-grass. O Lord, You alone are the Yajña-Puruṣa, the living Person of sacrifice.

Word by Word
पादेषुin (your) feet
पादेषु:
Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootपाद (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (Locative/7th), बहुवचन (Plural)
वेदाःthe Vedas
वेदाः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootवेद (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)
तवof you, your
तव:
Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Rootयुष्मद् (सर्वनाम, प्रातिपदिक)
Formषष्ठी (Genitive/6th), एकवचन (Singular)
यूप-दंष्ट्रO (one) whose tusk is like a sacrificial post
यूप-दंष्ट्र:
Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
TypeNoun
Rootयूप (प्रातिपदिक) + दंष्ट्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular); समासः कर्मधारयः (यूप इव दंष्ट्रा = 'tusk like a sacrificial post')
दन्तेषुin (your) teeth
दन्तेषु:
Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootदन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सप्तमी (Locative/7th), बहुवचन (Plural)
यज्ञाःsacrifices
यज्ञाः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootयज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)
चितयःaltar-fires, funeral/ritual pyres (citīs)
चितयः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootचिति (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)
चand
च:
Connector
TypeIndeclinable
Rootच (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (Indeclinable), समुच्चय (conjunction)
वक्त्रेin (your) mouth/face
वक्त्रे:
Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
TypeNoun
Rootवक्त्र (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), सप्तमी (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)
हुताश-जिह्वः(you) whose tongue is fire
हुताश-जिह्वः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootहुताश (प्रातिपदिक) + जिह्वा (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); समासः कर्मधारयः (हुताशः एव जिह्वा यस्य = 'whose tongue is fire')
असिyou are
असि:
Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootअस् (धातु)
Formलट् (Present), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन (Singular)
तनू-रुहाणिbody-hairs
तनू-रुहाणि:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootतनू (प्रातिपदिक) + रुह (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural); समासः तत्पुरुषः (तनौ रुहाणि = 'growing on the body', i.e., hairs)
दर्भाःdarbha-grass
दर्भाः:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootदर्भ (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (Plural)
प्रभोO Lord
प्रभो:
Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
TypeNoun
Rootप्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन (Singular)
यज्ञ-पुमान्the personified sacrifice
यज्ञ-पुमान्:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootयज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक) + पुमांस् (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); समासः कर्मधारयः (यज्ञः एव पुमान् = 'the sacrifice-personified')
त्वम्you
त्वम्:
Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootयुष्मद् (सर्वनाम, प्रातिपदिक)
Formप्रथमा (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)
एवindeed, alone
एव:
Sambandha/Emphasis
TypeIndeclinable
Rootएव (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय (Indeclinable), निपात (particle), अवधारण (emphasis)
Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya; hymn identifying Vishnu as the cosmic sacrifice)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Meaning of the sages’ stuti identifying the Lord as the very form of yajña and Veda

Teaching: Devotional

Quality: revealing

Avatara Context

Avatara: Varaha

Purpose: The hymn reveals Varāha as Yajña-Puruṣa, embodying the Vedas and sacrificial apparatus to re-sanctify cosmic order.

Leela: Dharma-upadesa

Dharma Restored: Yajña-dharma as the sustaining principle linking gods, worlds, and beings

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: All Vedic sacrifice culminates in the Lord, who is himself the Yajña-Puruṣa—Veda, fire, implements, and sanctifying grass embodied.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Perform worship (ritual or inward) with the understanding that every offering is to the indwelling Supreme, transforming action into devotion.

Vishishtadvaita: Integrates karma (yajña) into God-centered ontology: ritual elements are real modes dependent on the Lord, who pervades and transcends them.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities
V
Vishnu
V
Vedas
A
Agni (Hutāśa)
Y
Yajña (Sacrifice)
D
Darbha (Kuśa grass)

FAQs

This verse declares that every essential element of Vedic sacrifice—Vedas, yūpa, fire, altar, and darbha—exists as Vishnu’s own body, teaching that yajña is ultimately the worship of the Supreme Lord in cosmic form.

By mapping ritual components onto Vishnu’s limbs, Parāśara frames yajña as a symbolic participation in the Lord’s universal order: the ritual is not separate from God, but a manifestation of Him.

Vishnu is presented as the inner reality of the Vedas and sacrifice—both the means (ritual forms) and the end (the Supreme Person)—supporting a Vaishnava view where the transcendent Lord pervades all sacred action.

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