Shloka 18
कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
अव्यक्ताय सुसूक्ष्माय निर्गुणाय गुणात्मने । स एष पुरुषव्याघत्र पीतवासा जनार्दन:
avyaktāya susūkṣmāya nirguṇāya guṇātmane | sa eṣa puruṣavyāghra pītavāsā janārdanaḥ ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana dijo: «Al Inmanifestado, sumamente sutil; al que está más allá de los atributos y, sin embargo, es el fundamento de todos los atributos: ese es Janārdana, vestido con ropajes amarillos, oh tigre entre los hombres».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse identifies Janārdana as transcendent (unmanifest, subtle, beyond limiting qualities) while also immanent as the basis of all qualities (guṇātman). It frames devotion and recognition of the divine as compatible with philosophical insight into nirguṇa and saguṇa aspects.
Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, describes Janārdana with exalted metaphysical epithets and a recognizable iconographic marker (yellow garments), presenting him to the listener as the supreme figure worthy of reverence.