Shloka 59

Adhyaya 4: अहोरात्र-युग-मन्वन्तर-कल्पमान तथा प्रलयान्ते सृष्ट्युपक्रमः

Devanagari script

सुष्वापाम्भसि यस्तस्मान् नारायण इति स्मृतः शर्वर्यन्ते प्रबुद्धो वै दृष्ट्वा शून्यं चराचरम्

Transliteration

suṣvāpāmbhasi yastasmān nārāyaṇa iti smṛtaḥ śarvaryante prabuddho vai dṛṣṭvā śūnyaṃ carācaram

Translation

Parce qu’il dormit sur les eaux primordiales, on se souvient de lui sous le nom de Nārāyaṇa. À la fin de la nuit cosmique, il s’éveilla et vit l’univers tout entier, mobile et immobile, comme un vide sans formes manifestées.

Word by Word

• सुष्वाप (suṣvāpa): slept

• अम्भसि (ambhasi): in the waters

• यः (yaḥ): who

• तस्मात् (tasmāt): therefore/from that reason

• नारायणः (nārāyaṇaḥ): Narayana

• इति (iti): thus

• स्मृतः (smṛtaḥ): is remembered/called

• शर्वर्यन्ते (śarvary-ante): at the end of the night (cosmic night)

• प्रबुद्धः (prabuddhaḥ): awakened

• वै (vai): indeed

• दृष्ट्वा (dṛṣṭvā): having seen

• शून्यम् (śūnyam): emptiness/void

• चराचरम् (carācaram): the moving and the unmoving (all beings).

Speaker

Suta Goswami (narrating the cosmogonic account to the sages of Naimisharanya)

Characters & Entities

• Narayana

FAQs

What is the importance of this verse in the context of Linga worship?

It frames creation as emerging from an unmanifest state (śūnya) after pralaya; in Linga worship, the Linga signifies Pati (Śiva) as the stable, formless ground from which name-and-form arise and into which they dissolve.

How does this verse describe the nature of Shiva (Shiva-tattva)?

By highlighting the void-like condition of the cosmos at the end of the cosmic night, it indirectly points to Shiva-tattva as transcendent to manifestation—beyond carācara—while remaining the sovereign basis (Pati) that enables re-manifestation.

What ritualistic or Yogic practice is highlighted here?

A contemplative pralaya-bhāvanā (meditation on dissolution): the yogin reflects on the world as śūnya to loosen pasha (bondage) and rest awareness in the formless Pati, a key inner orientation in Shaiva/Pashupata sādhanā.