Shloka 3

भाण्डीरवट-क्रीडा: प्रलम्बासुरवधः, मानुष्यलीला, एक-कारण-तत्त्वम्

Devanagari script

क्ष्वेलमानौ प्रगायन्तौ विचिन्वन्तौ च पादपान् चारयन्तौ च गा दूरे व्याहरन्तौ च नामभिः

Transliteration

kṣvelamānau pragāyantau vicinvantau ca pādapān cārayantau ca gā dūre vyāharantau ca nāmabhiḥ

Translation

Sportively calling out and singing aloud, they wandered about examining the trees, drove the cows far out to pasture, and summoned them back by their familiar names.

Word by Word

• क्ष्वेलमानौ: sporting; frolicking
• क्ष्वेलमानौ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: क्ष्वेल् (धातु) + शानच् (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; वर्तमानकाले शानच्-प्रत्ययान्त — Present active participle (parasmaipada sense), nominative dual masculine (sporting/playing)

• प्रगायन्तौ: singing forth
• प्रगायन्तौ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र + गै (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त वर्तमानकृदन्त — Present active participle, nominative dual masculine (singing aloud)

• विचिन्वन्तौ: searching among
• विचिन्वन्तौ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + चि (धातु) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त — Present active participle, nominative dual masculine (searching/selecting)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थ — Conjunction “and”

• पादपान्: trees
• पादपान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पादप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Accusative plural masculine

• चारयन्तौ: grazing (them); causing to pasture
• चारयन्तौ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: चर् (धातु) + णिच् (प्रयोजक) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; णिजन्त-शतृ वर्तमानकृदन्त — Causative present active participle, nominative dual masculine (causing to graze)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थ — Conjunction “and”

• गाः: cows
• गाः: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गो (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Accusative plural feminine

• दूरे: far away
• दूरे: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: दूर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय; देशवाचक — Indeclinable adverb “far away” (from locative form used adverbially)

• व्याहरन्तौ: calling out; uttering
• व्याहरन्तौ: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि + आ + हृ (धातु; व्याहृ) + शतृ (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, द्विवचन; शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त — Present active participle, nominative dual masculine (calling out/uttering)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थ — Conjunction “and”

• नामभिः: with names
• नामभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति, बहुवचन — Instrumental plural neuter (by/with names)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Teaching: Devotional

Quality: compassionate

Avatara Context

Avatara: Krishna

Purpose: Kṛṣṇa descends to delight His devotees through simple pastoral play that simultaneously sustains and protects Vraja’s daily life.

Leela: Bala

Dharma Restored: The ordinary rhythm of Vraja—herding, naming, singing—affirmed as sacred under the Lord’s presence.

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Bhagavān is approachable in everyday life; the divine is revealed through simple acts—song, companionship, and care for living beings.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Sanctify daily routines by mindfulness, kindness, and devotional remembrance; let work become līlā through loving attention.

Vishishtadvaita: The Lord’s immanence is experiential: He participates in embodied relations (names, calls, responses), affirming the world as real and fit for devotion.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Krishna

Bhakti Type: Sakhya

Characters & Entities

• cows
• trees
• forest/pasture (implicit pastoral setting)

FAQs

What is the significance of pastoral imagery (cows, trees, grazing) in the Vishnu Purana?

It grounds the dynastic narrative in dharmic everyday life, presenting an ideal of orderly stewardship—care of cattle and land—as a marker of righteous culture.

How does Sage Parāśara explain narrative details in the dynastic sections?

He often uses vivid, ordinary actions—movement through forests, tending herds, calling by name—to make lineage episodes tangible while keeping the larger moral order (dharma) in view.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in a verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such scenes within Vishnu’s sovereignty: social order, prosperity, and dharmic life are understood as sustained by the Supreme Reality (Vishnu).