Shloka 26

Vaitaraṇī-tīrtha and the Devayāna Path

Kaliṅga Episode

Devanagari script

३० नमो विश्वगुप्ताय नमो विश्वपराय ते | सांनिध्यं कुरु देवेश सागरे लवणाम्भसि,(समुद्रमें स्नान करते समय उसकी प्रार्थनाके लिये निम्नांकित मन्त्रका उच्चारण करना चाहिये--) जिनमें यह सम्पूर्ण विश्व लीन होता है तथा जो सबसे श्रेष्ठ हैं, उन भगवान्‌ विष्णुको नमस्कार है। देवेश्वर! आप खारे समुद्रमें निवास करें

Transliteration

namo viśvaguptāya namo viśvaparāya te | sānnidhyaṃ kuru deveśa sāgare lavaṇāmbhasi ||

Translation

समुद्रस्नानाच्या वेळी (विष्णुप्रार्थनेसाठी) हा मंत्र—संपूर्ण विश्वाचे रक्षक, तुम्हाला नमस्कार; विश्वापलीकडील परम, तुम्हाला नमस्कार. देवेश्वरा, खाऱ्या समुद्रात आपले सान्निध्य प्रकट करा.

Word by Word

• {'namaḥ': 'homage

• salutation', 'viśva': 'the whole world

• universe', 'gupta': 'protected

• guarded', 'viśvagupta': 'protector/guardian of the universe (epithet of Viṣṇu)', 'parāya': 'to the supreme

• to the transcendent', 'te': 'to you', 'sānnidhyam': 'nearness

• proximity (esp. divine presence)', 'kuru': 'do

• grant', 'deveśa': 'Lord of the gods (epithet of Viṣṇu)', 'sāgare': 'in the ocean', 'lavaṇa': 'salt

• saline', 'ambhas': 'water', 'lavaṇāmbhasi': 'in salt water

Speaker

लोमश उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Lomaśa
• Viṣṇu
• sāgara (the ocean/sea)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Ritual acts like bathing become ethically and spiritually meaningful when joined to devotion: one remembers Viṣṇu as the universal protector and seeks his sānnidhya (living presence), turning purification into surrender and reverence.

What is happening in the narrative?

Lomaśa instructs a prayer-mantra to be recited while bathing in the sea, addressing Viṣṇu with epithets of cosmic guardianship and asking the deity to be present in the salt ocean during the rite.