Shloka 19

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मापि पश्येत्सर्वगं वासुदेवं वाय्वादिभ्यो ह्यधिकान्सद्गुणांश्च / श्रोत्रं न जानाति हरेर्गुणांश्च सुसूक्ष्मरूपांश्च विशेषसंयुतान्

Transliteration

brahmāpi paśyetsarvagaṃ vāsudevaṃ vāyvādibhyo hyadhikānsadguṇāṃśca / śrotraṃ na jānāti harerguṇāṃśca susūkṣmarūpāṃśca viśeṣasaṃyutān

Translation

ဗြဟ္မာတောင်လည်း အလုံးစုံပြန့်နှံ့သော ဝါစူဒေဝကို မြင်၍ ဝါယုနှင့် အခြားဒေဝတားတို့ထက် မြင့်မြတ်သော သဒ္ဂုဏ်များကို ထင်ရှားစွာ သိမြင်၏။ သို့သော် နားဖြင့်သာ ကြားသိခြင်းက ဟရိ၏ ဂုဏ်တော်များကို အမှန်တကယ် မနားလည်နိုင်—အလွန်သိမ်မွေ့သော ရုပ်သဘောများနှင့် ထူးခြားသော အလှအပများကြောင့် ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• ब्रह्मा: Brahmā
• ब्रह्मा: कर्ता
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• अपि: even
• अपि: निपात
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (particle: even/also)

• पश्येत्: may see
• पश्येत्: क्रिया
• Type: Verb
• Root: पश् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative/विधिलिङ्), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; Optative 3sg

• सर्व-गम्: all-pervading
• सर्व-गम्: कर्म-विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सर्व (प्रातिपदिक) + ग (कृदन्त; गम् धातु, ड)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; Accusative singular; विशेषण qualifying वासुदेवम्

• वासुदेवम्: Vāsudeva
• वासुदेवम्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: वासुदेव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; Accusative singular

• वायु-आदिभ्यः: than Vāyu and others
• वायु-आदिभ्यः: अपादान
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायु (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी, बहुवचन; Ablative plural

• हि: indeed
• हि: निपात
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: हि (अव्यय)
• Form: हेतुवाचक/निश्चयार्थक-अव्यय (particle: indeed/for)

• अधिकान्: greater, superior
• अधिकान्: कर्म-विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; Accusative plural; विशेषण qualifying सद्गुणान्

• सत्-गुणान्: good qualities
• सत्-गुणान्: कर्म (understood with जानाति in next pāda as object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत् (प्रातिपदिक) + गुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; Accusative plural

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• श्रोत्रम्: the ear (sense of hearing)
• श्रोत्रम्: कर्ता
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रोत्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; Nominative singular

• न: not
• न: निपात
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक-अव्यय (negation particle)

• जानाति: knows
• जानाति: क्रिया
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा (धातु)
• Form: लट्, परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; Present 3sg

• हरेः: of Hari
• हरेः: सम्बन्ध
• Type: Noun
• Root: हरि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन; Genitive singular

• गुणान्: qualities
• गुणान्: कर्म
• Type: Noun
• Root: गुण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; Accusative plural

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• सुसूक्ष्म-रूपान्: of extremely subtle form
• सुसूक्ष्म-रूपान्: कर्म-विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु (अव्यय) + सूक्ष्म (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; Accusative plural; विशेषण qualifying गुणान् (or understood objects)

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-अव्यय

• विशेष-संयुतान्: endowed with distinctions
• विशेष-संयुतान्: कर्म-विशेषण
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विशेष (प्रातिपदिक) + संयुत (कृदन्त; सम्+युज् धातु, क्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन; Accusative plural; विशेषण qualifying गुणान्

Speaker

Lord Vishnu (Vāsudeva) speaking to Garuda (Vinata-putra)

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Hari’s guṇas are supremely subtle and uniquely qualified; direct realization/vision surpasses second-hand hearing.

Vedantic Theme: Transcendence with immanence: sarvagata Vāsudeva whose attributes are beyond ordinary pramāṇas; need for refined bhakti-jñāna.

Application: Move from mere information (hearing) to disciplined contemplation and devotion (manana, nididhyāsana, upāsanā); seek experiential understanding through sādhana.

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: celestial realm

Cross References

Related Themes: Garuda Purana: recurring contrast of śravaṇa vs sākṣātkāra in Viṣṇu-bhakti passages (thematic)

Characters & Entities

• Brahma
• Vasudeva
• Vayu
• Hari
• Devas

FAQs

What is the importance of Hari’s “subtle form” (sūkṣma-rūpa) in the Garuda Purana?

This verse stresses that Hari’s reality and attributes are so subtle and uniquely qualified that they cannot be fully grasped by sensory means like mere hearing; realization requires deeper spiritual insight and devotion.

How does this verse explain the limits of knowledge about God?

Even Brahmā can perceive Vāsudeva as all-pervading and supremely virtuous, yet ordinary auditory learning (śrotra) cannot encompass Hari’s guṇas, indicating the limits of sense-based and secondhand knowledge.

Practical application of this wisdom today?

Go beyond passive listening: pair scriptural study with sincere practice—devotion, contemplation, and ethical living—so understanding becomes experiential rather than merely informational.