Shloka 59

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

Devanagari script

स्थापयित्वा हयशिर उदक्पूर्वे महोदथौ । वेदानामालयं चापि बभूवाश्वशिरास्तत:

Transliteration

sthāpayitvā hayaśira udakpūrve mahodadhau | vedānām ālayaṃ cāpi babhūvāśvaśirās tataḥ ||

Translation

ಮಹಾಸಾಗರದ ಈಶಾನ್ಯ ಭಾಗದಲ್ಲಿ ತನ್ನ ಹಯಶಿರ (ಹಯಗ್ರೀವ) ರೂಪವನ್ನು ಸ್ಥಾಪಿಸಿ—ಅದು ವೇದಗಳಿಗೂ ಆಲಯ-ಆಶ್ರಯವಾಯಿತು—ನಂತರ ಭಗವಾನ್ ಅಶ್ವಶಿರನು ತನ್ನ ಪೂರ್ವರೂಪವನ್ನು ಧರಿಸಿದನು।

Word by Word

• स्थापयित्वा: having established/placed
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund)

• हयशिरः: the horse-head (Hayashiras)
• हयशिरः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हयशिरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• उदक्पूर्वे: in the north-eastern (direction/part)
• उदक्पूर्वे: Adhikarana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: उदक्पूर्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Locative, Singular

• महोदधौ: in the great ocean
• महोदधौ: Adhikarana
• Type: Noun
• Root: महोदधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Locative, Singular

• वेदानाम्: of the Vedas
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• आलयम्: abode/refuge
• आलयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च

• अपि: also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि

• बभूव: became/was
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd, Singular, Parasmaipada

• अश्वशिराः: Ashvashiras (horse-headed one)
• अश्वशिराः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्वशिरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• ततः: then/thereafter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Bhagavān (the Lord)
• Hayagrīva / Hayaśiras / Aśvaśiras
• Mahodadhi (the great ocean)
• Vedas

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Sacred knowledge (the Vedas) is portrayed as needing protection and a rightful ‘abode’; the Lord assumes a specific form (Hayagrīva) to safeguard and re-establish the foundations of dharma through the preservation of revelation.

What is happening in the narrative?

The narrator states that the Lord installs his horse-headed manifestation in the eastern great ocean as the seat of the Vedas, then returns to his prior form; thereafter Hayagrīva is understood to remain there as the enduring guardian of the Vedas.