Shloka 18

ऋभु-निदाघ-संवादः — अधः-ऊर्ध्व-दृष्टान्तेन अद्वैतबोधः (राजा-गज-उपमा) तथा मोक्षफलश्रुति

Devanagari script

तद् एतद् उपदिष्टं ते संक्षेपेण महामते परमार्थसारभूतं यद् अद्वैतम् अशेषतः

Transliteration

tad etad upadiṣṭaṃ te saṃkṣepeṇa mahāmate paramārthasārabhūtaṃ yad advaitam aśeṣataḥ

Translation

Thus, O great-minded one, I have taught you this in brief—the very essence of the highest truth: that non-dual Reality, in its fullness, without remainder.

Word by Word

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• एतत्: this
• एतत्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (emphatic: 'this very')

• उपदिष्टम्: taught
• उपदिष्टम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उपदिष्ट (कृदन्त; √दिश् (धातु) + उप उपसर्ग, क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त ('taught/instructed')

• ते: to you
• ते: Sampradana (Recipient/सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: चतुर्थी (4th) एकवचन (enclitic)

• संक्षेपेण: briefly
• संक्षेपेण: Karana (Manner/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संक्षेप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; प्रकार/रीत्या (in brief)

• महामते: O great-minded one
• महामते: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, संबोधन (8th), एकवचन; समासः—बहुव्रीहिः (महती मतिः यस्य सः)

• परमार्थ-सार-भूतम्: constituting the essence of the highest truth
• परमार्थ-सार-भूतम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परमार्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + सार (प्रातिपदिक) + भूत (कृदन्त; √भू (धातु), क्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त; समासः—तत्पुरुषः (परमार्थस्य सारः → परमार्थसारः; तदेव भूतम् = 'constituting the essence')

• यत्: which
• यत्: Sambandha (Relative/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्ध-प्रत्यय (relative pronoun)

• अद्वैतम्: non-duality
• अद्वैतम्: Apposition (Predicate nominal/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अद्वैत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• अशेषतः: completely
• अशेषतः: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अशेषतः (अव्यय; अशेष + तस्)
• Form: अव्यय; प्रकारार्थक क्रियाविशेषण (entirely/without remainder)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Non-dual Reality (advaita) is taught as the condensed essence of the highest truth, complete and without remainder.

Vedantic Theme: Brahman

Application: Regularly distill your study into a single steady contemplation—what is truly real—and test it against experience through meditation and ethical living.

Vishishtadvaita: In Vaiṣṇava reading, 'advaita' can be understood as the one supreme Brahman (Nārāyaṇa) without a second independent reality, while still allowing real modes/attributes (cit-acit) as His inseparable body.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Vishnu (implied as the Supreme Reality)

FAQs

What is the significance of Advaita (non-duality) in this Vishnu Purana verse?

It presents the culmination of the teaching as the realization of a single, non-dual Supreme Reality—described as the complete essence of ultimate truth.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the essence of the highest truth to Maitreya here?

He frames the instruction as a concise summary (saṃkṣepeṇa) and calls it the paramārtha-sāra—the distilled core of the entire doctrine.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Though not named explicitly in the verse, the Vishnu Purana’s moksha-teaching context treats the non-dual ultimate reality as Vishnu’s supreme nature (Para Brahman), the final ground of liberation.