Shloka 20

Arjuna meets the Lokapālas, is tested by Indra, and is led to Amarāvatī for astra-śikṣā

Indraloka-gamana

Devanagari script

प्राच्यां नारायणस्थानं मेरावतिविराजते । यत्र भूतेश्वरस्तात सर्वप्रकृतिरात्मभू:

Transliteration

prācyāṃ nārāyaṇasthānaṃ merāvatīvirājate | yatra bhūteśvaras tāta sarvaprakṛtir ātmabhūḥ ||

Translation

Vaiśampāyana dijo: «En el oriente resplandece la morada sagrada de Nārāyaṇa, gloriosa junto a Merāvatī. Allí, querido mío, habita el Señor de todos los seres: el Autoengendrado (Ātmabhū), fundamento mismo de toda la naturaleza.»

Word by Word

प्राच्याम्in the east

नारायणस्थानम्the abode/place of Nārāyaṇa

मेरौon/in (Mount) Meru

अतिविराजतेshines exceedingly / is very splendid

यत्रwhere

भूतेश्वरःthe lord of beings

तातO dear one / O father

सर्वप्रकृतिःthe universal Prakṛti / all nature

आत्मभूःthe self-existent one (Brahmā)

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vaiśampāyana

Nārāyaṇa

Merāvatī

Bhūteśvara

Ātmabhū

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse frames sacred space as a manifestation of the supreme: Nārāyaṇa is presented as the luminous center where the Lord of beings abides as the self-existent source underlying all prakṛti (nature).

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana describes a revered eastern holy locus—Nārāyaṇa’s abode—highlighting its splendor and identifying the divine presence there as the ruler of all beings and the primordial ground of existence.