Shloka 24
Nārāyaṇopadeśa to Mārkaṇḍeya (Cosmic Self-Identification and Yuga Doctrine) | नारायणोपदेशः
सरस्वत्युवाच श्रेष्ठानि यानि द्विपदां वरिष्ठ यज्ञेषु विद्वन्नुपपादयन्ति । तैरेव चाहं सम्प्रवृद्धा भवामि चाप्यायिता रूपवती च विप्र,सरस्वती बोली--नरश्रेष्ठ! विद्वन! याज्ञिकलोग यज्ञोंमें जो श्रेष्ठ कार्य करते हैं अथवा श्रेष्ठ वस्तुओंका संकलन करते हैं, उन्हींसे मेरी पुष्टि तथा तृप्ति होती है और विप्रवर! उन्हींसे मैं रूपवती होती हूँ
sarasvaty uvāca śreṣṭhāni yāni dvipadāṃ variṣṭha yajñeṣu vidvann upapādayanti | tair eva cāhaṃ sampravṛddhā bhavāmi cāpyāyitā rūpavatī ca vipra ||
Sarasvatī said: “O best of men, O learned one—whatever excellent offerings and acts the foremost among humans duly provide in sacrifices, by those alone I am nourished and made to flourish. By them I become satisfied and, O brahmin, I also become radiant in form.”
ताक्ष्य उवाच
Educational Q&A
Excellent, properly performed sacrificial acts and offerings sustain sacred powers; human ritual responsibility (yajña-dharma) is portrayed as nourishing and strengthening the divine presence, which in turn becomes beneficent and radiant.
Sarasvatī speaks to a human interlocutor (addressed as ‘best of men’ and ‘learned one’), explaining that she is strengthened, satisfied, and made radiant by the finest offerings and acts that people perform in sacrifices.