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Shloka 3

Cāturhotra as Inner Sacrifice (Yoga-Yajña) and Nārāyaṇa Recitation

करणं कर्म कर्ता च मोक्ष इत्येव भाविनि । चत्वार एते होतारो यैरिदं जगदावृतम्‌,भाविनि! करण, कर्म, कर्ता और मोक्ष--ये चार होता हैं, जिनके द्वारा यह सम्पूर्ण जगत्‌ आवृत है

karaṇaṁ karma kartā ca mokṣa ityeva bhāvini | catvāra ete hotāro yair idaṁ jagad āvṛtam, bhāvini ||

ഭാവിനീ! കരണം, കര്‍മ്മം, കര്‍ത്താവ്, മോക്ഷം—ഇവയാണ് നാലു ഹോതാക്കൾ; ഇവരാൽ തന്നെയാണ് ഈ സമസ്ത ലോകം ആവൃതമായിരിക്കുന്നത്।

करणम्instrument/means
करणम्:
Karana
TypeNoun
Rootकरण
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
कर्मaction; object (of action)
कर्म:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootकर्मन्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
कर्ताdoer/agent
कर्ता:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootकर्तृ
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
and
:
TypeIndeclinable
Root
मोक्षःliberation
मोक्षः:
TypeNoun
Rootमोक्ष
FormMasculine, Nominative, Singular
इतिthus/so (quotative)
इति:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइति
एवindeed/only
एव:
TypeIndeclinable
Rootएव
भाविनिin the future; in what is to come
भाविनि:
Adhikarana
TypeNoun
Rootभाविन्
FormFeminine, Locative, Singular
चत्वारःfour
चत्वारः:
TypeAdjective
Rootचतुर्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
एतेthese
एते:
TypePronoun
Rootएतद्
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
होतारःofferers/priests (hotṛs)
होतारः:
Karta
TypeNoun
Rootहोतृ
FormMasculine, Nominative, Plural
यैःby whom/with which
यैः:
Karana
TypePronoun
Rootयद्
FormMasculine/Neuter, Instrumental, Plural
इदम्this
इदम्:
TypePronoun
Rootइदम्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
जगत्world/universe
जगत्:
Karma
TypeNoun
Rootजगत्
FormNeuter, Nominative, Singular
आवृतम्covered/enveloped
आवृतम्:
TypeVerb
Rootआ-√वृ (वृञ्)
Formक्त (past passive participle), Neuter, Nominative, Singular

ब्राह्मण उवाच

ब्राह्मण (a Brahmin speaker)
भाविनी (addressed woman)

Educational Q&A

The verse frames lived reality through four fundamentals: the means (karaṇa), the act (karma), the agent (kartā), and the ultimate aim of freedom (mokṣa). Ethically, it highlights responsibility (agent and action), practical causality (means), and the higher horizon that gives moral direction (liberation).

A Brahmin addresses a woman (bhāvini) and instructs her in a reflective, philosophical manner, using a Vedic-ritual metaphor (“hotāraḥ”) to describe the key forces that structure worldly experience.