Shloka 97

मातङ्ग–शक्रसंवादः

Mataṅga–Śakra Dialogue on Tapas, Status, and Moral Qualities

Devanagari script

उदाह्नत: सर्वथा ते गुणानां मयैकदेश: प्रसमीक्ष्य बुद्ध्या । शक्तिर्न मे काचिदिहास्ति वक्तुं गुणान्‌ सर्वान्‌ परिमातुं तथैव

Transliteration

udāhṛtaḥ sarvathā te guṇānāṁ mayaikadeśaḥ prasmīkṣya buddhyā | śaktir na me kācid ihāsti vaktuṁ guṇān sarvān parimātuṁ tathaiva, brahman ||

Translation

ಓ ಬ್ರಾಹ್ಮಣನೇ! ನಾನು ಬುದ್ಧಿಯಿಂದ ಸಮ್ಯಕ್ ಪರಿಶೀಲಿಸಿ ಇಲ್ಲಿ ಗಂಗಾದೇವಿಯ ಗುಣಗಳಲ್ಲಿ ಕೇವಲ ಒಂದು ಅಂಶವನ್ನೇ ಯಥಾಶಕ್ತಿ ಹೇಳಿದ್ದೇನೆ. ಅವಳ ಸಮಸ್ತ ಗುಣಗಳನ್ನು ಸಂಪೂರ್ಣವಾಗಿ ವರ್ಣಿಸಲು ಅಥವಾ ಪರಿಮಾಣಿಸಲು ಈ ಲೋಕದಲ್ಲಿ ನನಗೆ ಶಕ್ತಿ ಇಲ್ಲ.

Word by Word

• {'udāhṛtaḥ': 'stated, described, set forth', 'sarvathā': 'in every way, thoroughly', 'te': 'your/your (here used as respectful address

• contextually ‘of her/that’)', 'guṇānām': 'of qualities, virtues, excellences', 'mayā': 'by me', 'eka-deśaḥ': 'a single part, a small portion', 'prasmīkṣya': 'having examined, having considered', 'buddhyā': 'with intellect, by understanding', 'śaktiḥ': 'capacity, power, ability', 'na me': 'not for me / I do not have', 'kācid': 'any (even the least)', 'iha': 'here, in this world', 'vaktum': 'to speak, to describe', 'sarvān': 'all, entire', 'parimātum': 'to measure, to fully encompass/quantify', 'tathaiva': 'just so, likewise, in the same manner', 'brahman': 'O Brahman

Speaker

सिद्ध उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Siddha (speaker)
• Brahman (addressee)
• Gaṅgā (implied by context: her qualities)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches humility before greatness: even a wise speaker can only indicate a fraction of a truly exalted being’s virtues, acknowledging the limits of intellect and language when praising sacred excellence.

What is happening in the narrative?

A Siddha addresses a brahmin/sage and concludes a eulogy by saying he has described only a small part of Gaṅgā’s qualities, confessing that he lacks the capacity to fully enumerate or measure all her virtues.