Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 29
Saṃsāra-duḥkha: Karmic Descent, Garbhavāsa, Life’s Anxieties, Death, and the Call to Jñāna-Bhakti
मम मूलधनं नास्ति वृष्टिश्चापि न वर्षति । अश्वः पलायितः कुत्र गावः किं नागता मम ॥ २९ ॥
mama mūladhanaṃ nāsti vṛṣṭiścāpi na varṣati | aśvaḥ palāyitaḥ kutra gāvaḥ kiṃ nāgatā mama || 29 ||
Harta pokokku tiada lagi; hujan pun tidak turun. Ke manakah kudaku melarikan diri? Mengapa lembu-lembuku belum kembali?
Unspecified (narrative voice within the dialogue context of Book 1.1; traditionally within the Narada–Sanatkumara instruction framework)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
FAQs
The verse highlights the mind’s entanglement in artha (wealth) and possessions—capital, rain (agricultural fortune), and livestock—showing how worldly insecurity drives worry and distraction, a setup for teaching dharma and detachment.
By portraying the instability of external supports (wealth, rain, animals), it implicitly points to bhakti as a steadier refuge—directing the seeker from dependence on fluctuating fortune toward reliance on the Divine and dharmic living.
Indirectly, it touches the lived domain where Vedanga applications matter—especially Jyotiṣa (timing/agricultural omens) and Kalpa (householder duties/ritual order)—though the verse itself is primarily a statement of material distress rather than a technical instruction.