Shloka 40

Nāgendra–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Praśna-vidhi and Dharmic Approach on the Gomatī Riverbank

Devanagari script

त्वत्तो मे मानसं जन्म प्रथमं द्विजपूजितम्‌ । चाक्षुषं वै द्वितीयं मे जन्म चासीत्‌ पुरातनम्‌,आपसे मेरा प्रथम बार जो जन्म हुआ था, वह द्विजोंद्वारा सम्मानित मानस-जन्म कहा गया है अर्थात्‌ प्रथम बार मैं आपके मनसे उत्पन्न हुआ। तदनन्तर पूर्वकालमें मैं आपके नेत्रसे उत्पन्न हुआ। वह मेरा दूसरा जन्म था

Transliteration

tvatto me mānasaṃ janma prathamaṃ dvijapūjitam | cākṣuṣaṃ vai dvitīyaṃ me janma cāsīt purātanam ||

Translation

「汝より、われは第一の生を受けた。二度生まれの者らに尊ばれる、マナスより生じた心生の起源である。さらに古の時、われには第二の生もあり、汝の眼より生じた。」

Word by Word

• {'tvattaḥ': 'from you', 'me': 'for me

• my', 'mānasam': 'mind-born

• originating from the mind', 'janma': 'birth

• origin', 'prathamam': 'first', 'dvija-pūjitam': 'honored/revered by the twice-born (Brahmins)

• esteemed among the learned', 'cākṣuṣam': 'born from the eye

• ocular in origin', 'vai': 'indeed

• certainly (emphatic particle)', 'dvitīyam': 'second', 'cāsīt': 'was

• came to be', 'purātanam': 'ancient

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana (speaker)
• the addressed teacher/elder (unnamed in the verse)
• dvija (the twice-born/Brahmins)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse emphasizes the sanctity of transmission: true authority can arise through a teacher’s inner intention (mind-born) and direct empowerment (eye-born), and such origins are validated by the learned (dvijas). It highlights how knowledge and identity in dharmic tradition are grounded in guru-lineage rather than merely physical birth.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana addresses an elder/teacher, recounting two modes of his origin: first as a mind-born creation from the addressee, esteemed by Brahmins, and later as a second, ancient birth arising from the addressee’s eye—underscoring a special, sanctified relationship and the legitimacy of his role in the tradition.