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Shloka 43

Adhyaya 4Jaimini Meets the Dharmapakshis: Four Doubts on the Mahabharata and the Opening of Narayana Doctrine

आपो नाराऽ इति प्रोक्ता मुनिभिस्तत्त्वदर्शिभिः ।

अयनं तस्य ताः पूर्वं तेन नारायणः स्मृतः ॥

āpo nārā iti proktā munibhis tattvadarśibhiḥ | ayanaṃ tasya tāḥ pūrvaṃ tena nārāyaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ ||

Les eaux sont appelées « nārā » par les sages qui perçoivent la vérité. Comme ces eaux furent jadis le lieu de repos (ayana) de Lui, c’est pourquoi il est commémoré sous le nom de Nārāyaṇa.

āpaḥwaters
āpaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) of implied ‘are’ in definition
TypeNoun
Rootāp (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; ‘waters’
nārāḥ(called) ‘nārāḥ’
nārāḥ:
Pratipādya (predicate nominal)
TypeNoun
Rootnārā (प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; ‘nārāḥ’ (name/term for waters)
itithus/‘so’
iti:
Vākyārtha-dyotaka (वाक्यार्थद्योतक)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootiti (अव्यय)
FormIndeclinable quotative particle (उद्धरण)
proktāḥwere called
proktāḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया) (passive predicate)
TypeVerb
Root√vac (धातु) + ukta (कृदन्त; क्त)
FormPast passive participle (क्त), Feminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; agrees with āpaḥ; ‘were said/called’
munibhiḥby sages
munibhiḥ:
Karaṇa (करण) / Agent-instrument in passive
TypeNoun
Rootmuni (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; ‘by sages’
tattva-darśibhiḥby truth-seeing (sages)
tattva-darśibhiḥ:
Karaṇa (करण) / Agent-instrument in passive
TypeNoun
Roottattva + darśin (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Plural; tatpuruṣa: ‘seers of truth’ qualifying munibhiḥ
ayanamabode/resting-place
ayanam:
Pratipādya (predicate nominal) in definition
TypeNoun
Rootayana (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNeuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; ‘abode/resting-place/going’
tasyaof him/of that
tasya:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular; ‘of him/of that’ (of Nara/waters)
tāḥthose (waters)
tāḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) of implied ‘were’ in apposition
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormFeminine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Plural; refers to āpaḥ (‘those waters’)
pūrvamformerly/at first
pūrvam:
Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootpūrvam (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
FormIndeclinable adverb (कालवाचक) ‘formerly/at first’
tenatherefore/by that
tena:
Hetu (हेतु) / instrumental of reason
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine/Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular; ‘therefore/by that’
nārāyaṇaḥNārāyaṇa
nārāyaṇaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) of smṛtaḥ (grammatical subject)
TypeNoun
Rootnārāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormMasculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; tatpuruṣa: nārāṇām ayanam → nārāyaṇa (‘whose abode is the waters’)
smṛtaḥis called/remembered
smṛtaḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया) (passive predicate)
TypeVerb
Root√smṛ (धातु) + ta (कृदन्त; क्त)
FormPast passive participle (क्त), Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; ‘is remembered/called’
Not specified in the input excerpt (likely within the Purāṇic narrator’s discourse in early chapters)

{ "primaryRasa": "shanta", "secondaryRasa": "adbhuta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Nārāyaṇa (Vishnu)
CosmologyTheology of names (nirukti/etymology)Primordial watersVaishnava conceptions

FAQs

The verse teaches that sacred names encode metaphysical insight: Nārāyaṇa is not merely a personal label but a doctrinal pointer to the primordial condition (cosmic waters) and the Lord’s transcendence/immanence as the ground and refuge of creation.

Primarily Sarga (creation/cosmogony): it references the primordial waters as an early cosmological principle and connects the deity’s epithet to the pre-creation or initial-creation milieu.

“Waters” can symbolize the undifferentiated causal state (avyakta/prakṛti-like potentiality) from which forms emerge. Calling the Lord ‘He whose resting-place is the waters’ suggests mastery over, and repose within, the causal continuum—i.e., consciousness abiding in the unmanifest while remaining the source of manifestation.