Shloka 4

अध्याय १९० — वामदेव-वाम्य-वृत्तान्तः

The Vāmadeva Horses Episode and the Ethics of Promise

Devanagari script

अहं नारायणो नाम प्रभव: शाश्वृतो5व्यय: । विधाता सर्वभूतानां संहर्ता च द्विजोत्तम,मैं नारायण ही सबकी उत्पत्तिका कारण, सनातन और अविनाशी हूँ। द्विजश्रेष्ठ! सम्पूर्ण भूतोंकी सृष्टि और संहार करनेवाला भी मैं ही हूँ। मैं ही विष्णु हूँ, मैं ही ब्रह्मा हूँ, मैं ही देवराज इन्द्र हूँ और मैं ही राजा कुबेर तथा प्रेतराज यम हूँ

Transliteration

ahaṃ nārāyaṇo nāma prabhavaḥ śāśvato 'vyayaḥ | vidhātā sarvabhūtānāṃ saṃhartā ca dvijottama |

Translation

The Deity said: “I am Nārāyaṇa by name—the source of all, eternal and imperishable. O best of the twice-born, I am the ordainer of all beings and also their withdrawer at dissolution.”

Word by Word

अहम्I

नारायणःNārāyaṇa

नामby name / named

प्रभवःorigin, source, cause

शाश्वतःeternal

अव्ययःimperishable, undecaying

विधाताcreator, ordainer

सर्वभूतानाम्of all beings

संहर्ताdestroyer, withdrawer

चand

द्विजोत्तमO best of the twice-born (brāhmaṇa)

Speaker

देव उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārāyaṇa

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Geographic Context

Cross References

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse asserts the Supreme Lord’s identity as Nārāyaṇa: the eternal, imperishable source who both establishes (creates/ordains) and withdraws (destroys) all beings. Ethically, it grounds dharma in a cosmic moral order upheld by a single sovereign principle rather than merely human power.

What is happening in the narrative?

A divine speaker addresses a brāhmaṇa (“dvijottama”) and reveals His supreme status—declaring Himself the origin, the eternal reality, and the agent of creation and dissolution—thereby authorizing the teaching or boon that follows with the weight of ultimate authority.