Shloka 103

Yoga-Sleep, Cosmic Dissolution, and the Lotus of Creation

with Mārkaṇḍeya’s Vision

Devanagari script

सुप्तंन्यग्रोधशाखायांबालमेकंनिरीक्ष्यच । तथैवैकार्णवजले नीहारेणावृतांतरे

Transliteration

suptaṃnyagrodhaśākhāyāṃbālamekaṃnirīkṣyaca | tathaivaikārṇavajale nīhāreṇāvṛtāṃtare

Translation

Et voyant un enfant unique endormi sur une branche de nyagrodha (banyan), de même, dans les eaux de l’unique océan cosmique, l’intérieur était voilé de brume.

Word by Word

• suptam: sleeping
• suptam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: svap (धातु)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त/कर्मणि), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन); used adjectivally with bālam

• nyagrodha-śākhāyām: on a banyan branch
• nyagrodha-śākhāyām: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nyagrodha (प्रातिपदिक) + śākhā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Locative (सप्तमी/7), Singular (एकवचन); 'on/in a banyan branch'

• bālam: a child
• bālam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन)

• ekam: one/single
• ekam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (द्वितीया/2), Singular (एकवचन); adjective to bālam

• nirīkṣya: having seen
• nirīkṣya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: īkṣ (धातु) with prefix nir-
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), indeclinable verbal (अव्ययीभाववत् क्रियाविशेषण)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction/particle (समुच्चय-निपात)

• tathā: thus/likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Emphatic particle (अवधारण-निपात)

• eka-arṇava-jale: in the waters of the single ocean
• eka-arṇava-jale: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + arṇava (प्रातिपदिक) + jala (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (सप्तमी/7), Singular (एकवचन); 'in the water of the single ocean'

• nīhāreṇa: by mist/fog
• nīhāreṇa: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nīhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (तृतीया/3), Singular (एकवचन)

• āvṛta-antare: in the space covered (by mist)
• āvṛta-antare: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: āvṛta (from vṛ धातु, क्त) + antara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Locative (सप्तमी/7), Singular (एकवचन); 'in the interior/space that is covered'

Speaker

Unknown (narrative voice; verse excerpt without explicit dialogue marker)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: celestial_realm

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: suptam+nyagrodhaśākhāyām→suptaṃnyagrodhaśākhāyām; bālam+ekam→bālamekam; nirīkṣya+ca→nirīkṣyaca; tathā+eva→tathaiva; eka+arṇava+jale→ekārṇavajale; nīhāreṇa+āvṛta+antare→nīhāreṇāvṛtāṃtare (a+ā sandhi; t+a→ta; nasalization before t).

FAQs

What image is presented in this verse?

It juxtaposes a child sleeping on a banyan branch with the primordial scene of the single cosmic ocean whose inner expanse is concealed by mist.

How does this verse relate to Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa themes?

Sṛṣṭikhaṇḍa frequently uses poetic cosmological imagery—such as the ekārṇava (cosmic ocean) and obscuring mist—to evoke the pre-creation or early-creation state.

What is the philosophical suggestion of “mist veiling the interior”?

It suggests that ultimate origins are partially hidden from ordinary perception, and that creation is described through symbols pointing beyond direct sensory certainty.