Shloka 19

Nārāyaṇasya Guhya-nāmāni Niruktāni (Etymologies of Nārāyaṇa’s Secret Epithets) / नारायणस्य गुह्यनामानि निरुक्तानि

Devanagari script

आकिज्चन्यं सुसंतोषो निराशीस्त्वमचापलम्‌ | एतदाहुः: परं श्रेय आत्मज्ञस्थ जितात्मन:,जो आत्मतत्त्वका ज्ञाता तथा मनको वशमें रखनेवाला है, उसके लिये यही परम कल्याणका साधन बताया गया है कि वह किसी वस्तुका संग्रह न करे, संतोष रखे तथा कामना और चंचलताको त्याग दे

Transliteration

ākiñcanyaṁ susantoṣo nirāśīs tvam acāpalam | etad āhuḥ paraṁ śreya ātmā-jñasya jitātmanaḥ ||

Translation

नारद म्हणाले—अपरिग्रह, उत्तम संतोष, निराशा (कामनारहितता) आणि अचंचल स्थैर्य—आत्मतत्त्व जाणणाऱ्या व आत्मसंयमी पुरुषासाठी हेच परम श्रेय सांगितले आहे।

Word by Word

आकिञ्चन्यम्non-possession; having nothing

सुसन्तोषःcomplete contentment

निराशीःfree from desire/expectation

त्वम्you

अचापलम्steadiness; absence of fickleness

एतत्this

आहुःthey say; they have declared

परम्supreme; highest

श्रेयःthe highest good; welfare

आत्मज्ञस्यof the knower of the Self

जितात्मनःof the self-controlled (one who has conquered the mind)

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

Nārada

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

For a person established in Self-knowledge and self-mastery, the highest welfare lies in four disciplines: not accumulating possessions (ākiñcanya), remaining content (susantoṣa), abandoning craving/expectation (nirāśīs), and maintaining steady composure without mental fickleness (acāpalam).

What is happening in the narrative?

In the Śānti Parva’s instruction on peace and liberation-oriented conduct, Nārada delivers a concise ethical-spiritual prescription, identifying inner renunciation and mental steadiness as the marks of the Self-knower and as the means to supreme good.