Shloka 8

अध्याय २५६ — श्रद्धा, अहिंसा, स्पर्धा-त्यागः

Tūlādhāra–Jājali: Faith, Non-harm, and Renunciation of Rivalry

Devanagari script

तदेतद्‌ भस्मसाद्धभूतं जगत्‌ सर्वमुपप्लुतम्‌ । प्रसीद भगवन्‌ साधो वर एष वृतो मया,ये सारे जलाशय, सब-के-सब घास और लता-बेलें तथा चार प्रकारके प्राणिसमुदाय (स्वेदज, अण्डज, उद्धिज्ज, जरायुज) भस्मीभूत हो रहे हैं। सारे जगत्‌का प्रलय उपस्थित हो गया है। भगवन्‌! प्रसन्न होइये। साधो! मैं आपसे यही वर माँगता हूँ

Transliteration

tadetad bhasmasāddhabhūtaṃ jagat sarvam upaplutam | prasīda bhagavan sādho vara eṣa vṛto mayā ||

Translation

നാരദൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ഇതാ, ഈ സമസ്ത ലോകവും ഭസ്മമായി മൂടപ്പെട്ടിരിക്കുന്നു. പ്രളയം എത്തിയിരിക്കുന്നു. ഭഗവൻ, പ്രസാദിക്കണമേ; സാധോ, ഞാൻ തിരഞ്ഞെടുത്ത വരം ഇതുതന്നെ.

Word by Word

• {'tad etat': 'this very (thing), behold this', 'bhasma-sāt': 'to the state of ashes

• utterly burnt up', 'bhasmasāddha-bhūtaṃ': 'having become reduced to ashes', 'jagat': 'the world

• the moving universe', 'sarvam': 'all, entire', 'upaplutam': 'flooded/overwhelmed

• engulfed (by calamity)', 'prasīda': 'be gracious

• show favor', 'bhagavan': 'O Blessed Lord

• venerable one', 'sādho': 'O good/holy one

• address to a saintly person', 'varaḥ': 'boon, gift (asked of a superior)', 'eṣaḥ': 'this', 'vṛtaḥ': 'chosen, selected, requested', 'mayā': 'by me'}

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Even amid cosmic catastrophe, the verse foregrounds the ethics of supplication: the devotee approaches the divine or saintly authority with humility (“prasīda”) and clarity of intention (“vara eṣa vṛto mayā”), implying that right request and reverent address are integral to dharmic conduct.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada describes a world-scale devastation—everything appears overwhelmed and reduced to ashes—and then turns to a revered ‘Bhagavān’/holy being, asking them to be pleased and granting that he is choosing a specific boon in response to the crisis.