Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 12

Threefold Suffering, Twofold Knowledge, and the Definition of Bhagavān (Vāsudeva); Prelude to Keśidhvaja–Janaka Yoga

Devanagari script

तद्ब्रह्म तत्परं धाम तद्ध्येयं मोक्षकांक्षिभिः । श्रुतिवाक्योदितं सूक्ष्मं तद्विष्णोः परमं पदम् ॥ १२ ॥

Transliteration

tadbrahma tatparaṃ dhāma taddhyeyaṃ mokṣakāṃkṣibhiḥ | śrutivākyoditaṃ sūkṣmaṃ tadviṣṇoḥ paramaṃ padam || 12 ||

Translation

ထိုသည်ပင် ဗြဟ္မန်၊ ထိုသည်ပင် အမြင့်ဆုံး နေရာတော်။ မောက္ခကို လိုလားသူတို့သည် ထိုအပေါ် သမาธိပြု၍ ဓ్యာနပြုရမည်။ သြတိ၏ ဝါကျများက ကြေညာသော အလွန်သိမ်မွေ့သည့် အရာ—ထိုသည်ပင် ဗိဿဏု၏ အမြင့်ဆုံး ပဒ (အဆင့်) ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; निर्देश

• ब्रह्म: Brahman
• ब्रह्म: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; समानााधिकरण (in apposition to ‘तत्’)

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; निर्देश

• परम्: supreme
• परम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (of ‘धाम’)

• धाम: abode / splendor
• धाम: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; निर्देश

• ध्येयम्: to be meditated upon
• ध्येयम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ध्यै (धातु) + यत्/ण्यत् (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: कृदन्त (gerundive: ‘to be meditated upon’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• मोक्षकाङ्क्षिभिः: by those who desire liberation
• मोक्षकाङ्क्षिभिः: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मोक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + काङ्क्षिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (मोक्षं काङ्क्षन्ति ये: ‘desiring liberation’); पुल्लिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), बहुवचन; करण/सहायक (instrumental: ‘by/for those’)

• श्रुतिवाक्योदितम्: declared by Śruti statements
• श्रुतिवाक्योदितम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: श्रुति (प्रातिपदिक) + वाक्य (प्रातिपदिक) + उदित (प्रातिपदिक; from उद्+इ/उद्+ए + क्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘stated in the sentences of Śruti’); नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

• सूक्ष्मम्: subtle
• सूक्ष्मम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सूक्ष्म (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; निर्देश

• विष्णोः: of Viṣṇu
• विष्णोः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• परमम्: supreme
• परमम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (of ‘पदम्’)

• पदम्: state / abode / position
• पदम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Sanatkumara (teaching Narada)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhakti

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Brahman
• Shruti

FAQs

What is the spiritual significance of this verse in Narada Purana?

It equates the ultimate reality (Brahman) with Viṣṇu’s supreme abode, presenting it as the subtle, Śruti-attested goal to be realized through meditation by seekers of mokṣa.

How does this verse explain the path of devotion (Bhakti)?

By identifying Viṣṇu’s “paramaṃ padam” as the highest goal, it supports Viṣṇu-centered contemplation—devotional focus matures into steady dhyāna on the Lord’s supreme nature, culminating in liberation.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

The verse foregrounds Śruti-pramāṇa (Vedic authority): liberation-knowledge is grounded in the interpretive use of Vedic statements (a Vedānta-oriented application of scriptural study), rather than ritual technique.