Shloka 14

Jājali–Tulādhāra-saṃvāda: Yajña, Vṛtti, and Ātma-tīrtha (जाजलि-तुलाधार-संवादः)

Devanagari script

न हान्तरमभूत्‌ किज्चित्‌ क्वचिज्जन्तुभिरच्युत । निरुच्छवासमिवोजन्नद्ध त्रलोक्यमभवन्नूप

Transliteration

na hāntaram abhūt kiñcit kvacij jantubhir acsuta | nirucchvāsam ivojjanaddha trilokyam abhavannūpa ||

Translation

नारद बोले—हे अच्युत, धर्म से कभी न च्युत होनेवाले नरेश! उस समय कहीं भी रत्ती-भर भी ऐसा स्थान न रहा जो जीव-जन्तुओं से भरा न हो। मानो त्रिलोकी अवरुद्ध हो गई; लोगों का श्वास लेना भी असम्भव-सा हो गया—सबका दम घुटने लगा।

Word by Word

• [{'term': 'na', 'definition': 'not

• no'}, {'term': 'hāntaram (antara)', 'definition': 'gap, interval, open space'}, {'term': 'abhūt', 'definition': 'became

• existed (aorist of √bhū)'}, {'term': 'kiñcit', 'definition': 'anything

• even a little'}, {'term': 'kvacit', 'definition': 'anywhere

• in any place'}, {'term': 'jantubhiḥ', 'definition': 'by living beings/creatures (instrumental plural of jantu)'}, {'term': 'acyuta', 'definition': '‘the infallible/unchanging one’

• an epithet used as an address (also a divine epithet)'}, {'term': 'nir-ucchvāsam', 'definition': 'without breathing

• unable to exhale/inhale'}, {'term': 'iva', 'definition': 'as if

• like'}, {'term': 'trilokyam', 'definition': 'the three worlds (earth, mid-region, heaven)'}, {'term': 'abhavat', 'definition': 'became (imperfect/aorist sense of √bhū)'}, {'term': 'nūpa (nṛpa)', 'definition': 'king (address to the ruler)'}, {'term': 'dharma', 'definition': 'righteous order

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• Acyuta (as an epithet used in address)
• Nṛpa (the king, addressee)
• Triloka (the three worlds)
• Jantu (living beings/creatures)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse underscores how imbalance in the world—here portrayed as overwhelming congestion of beings—can suffocate life itself, implicitly reminding a dharma-abiding ruler to preserve order and livability for all creatures.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes a time when creatures filled every place so completely that the three worlds seemed obstructed, leaving beings virtually unable to breathe—an image of extreme crowding and distress.