Shloka 40
अहं नारायणो नाम शड्खचक्रगदाधर: । यावद्युगानां विप्रर्षे सहस्रपरिवर्तनात्,अशिशु: शिशुरूपेण यावदब्रह्मा न बुध्यते । ब्रह्मर्ष! मैं शंख, चक्र और गदा धारण करनेवाला विश्वात्मा नारायण हूँ, सहस्र युगके अन्तमें जो प्रलय होता है वह जबतक रहता है, तबतक सब प्राणियोंको (महानिद्रारूप मायासे) मोहित करके मैं (जलमें) शयन करता हूँ। मुनिश्रेष्ठ! यद्यपि मैं बालक नहीं हूँ, तो भी जबतक ब्रह्मा नहीं जागते, तबतक सदा इसी प्रकार बालकरूप धारण करके यहाँ रहता हूँ
ahaṁ nārāyaṇo nāma śaṅkhacakragadādharaḥ | yāvad yugānāṁ viprarṣe sahasraparivartanāt, aśiśuḥ śiśurūpeṇa yāvad abrahmā na budhyate |
The Deity said: “I am Nārāyaṇa by name, the bearer of conch, discus, and mace. O brahmin-seer, for as long as the dissolution that comes at the completion of a thousand yugas endures, I cast all beings into delusion through the great sleep and lie reposing upon the waters. O best of sages, though I am not truly a child, until Brahmā awakens I remain here in this very way, assuming the form of a child.”
देव उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse presents Nārāyaṇa as the cosmic Lord who sustains and withdraws the universe: during pralaya he veils beings through mahānidrā (sleep-like māyā) and remains poised to restart creation when Brahmā awakens. Ethically, it frames divine power as protective and orderly—withdrawal and re-creation occur by law (dharma), not chaos.
The speaker identifies himself as Nārāyaṇa, marked by conch, discus, and mace, and explains his state during the end-of-cycle dissolution: he lies upon the waters, keeping beings in a great sleep, and—though not truly a child—assumes a childlike form until Brahmā awakens to begin creation again.