Shloka 18
Puruṣottama-māhātmya
The Greatness of Puruṣottama Kṣetra
इंद्रियाणां मनो यद्वद्भूतानामवनी यथा । अश्वत्थः सर्ववृक्षाणां पवनः पवतां यथा ॥ १८ ॥
iṃdriyāṇāṃ mano yadvadbhūtānāmavanī yathā | aśvatthaḥ sarvavṛkṣāṇāṃ pavanaḥ pavatāṃ yathā || 18 ||
ഇന്ദ്രിയങ്ങളിൽ മനസ്സ് പ്രധാനമായതുപോലെ, സകല ഭൂതങ്ങളിൽ ഭൂമി പ്രധാനമായതുപോലെ; വൃക്ഷങ്ങളിൽ അശ്വത്ഥം ശ്രേഷ്ഠമായതുപോലെ, വീശുന്നവയിൽ പവനം ശ്രേഷ്ഠമായതുപോലെ; അങ്ങനെ ആ പരമതത്ത്വം സർവോന്നതമെന്നു കരുതപ്പെടുന്നു।
Suta (narrating the Narada Purana discourse)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: none
FAQs
It teaches recognition of the “foremost” (śreṣṭha) principle through familiar hierarchies in nature—mind over senses, earth as support, aśvattha among trees, and wind among movers—guiding the reader to honor the supreme as the highest refuge.
By training the devotee to discern what is central and sustaining, the verse supports bhakti as single-pointed reverence: just as one honors what is pre-eminent in each domain, one should place the highest devotion in the Supreme (commonly understood in the Purana as Vishnu/Narayana).
The verse mainly reflects a Nyāya-like method of teaching by analogy (dṛṣṭānta) and classification (padārtha-viveka), useful for clear exposition in Vyākaraṇa/Nirukta-style interpretation, rather than prescribing a specific ritual or astrological rule.