Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 58

योगस्वरूप-धारणा-समाधि-वर्णनम् (केशिध्वजोपदेशः)

Devanagari script

बलित्रिभङ्गिना भुग्ननाभिना चोदरेण वै । प्रलम्बाष्टभुजं विष्णुमथवापि चतुर्भुजम् ॥ ५८ ॥

Transliteration

balitribhaṅginā bhugnanābhinā codareṇa vai | pralambāṣṭabhujaṃ viṣṇumathavāpi caturbhujam || 58 ||

Translation

သုံးခေါက်ကွေးသည့် သဘောလှပသော တြိဘင်္ဂ အနေအထားဖြင့်၊ နာဘီအနည်းငယ်ကွေး၍ ဝမ်းဗိုက်ဝိုင်းဝိုင်းရှိသော ဗိဿဏုကို စိတ်ဖြင့် ဆင်ခြင်နိုင်သည်—အာဏာတော်ကြီးသော လက်ရှစ်ဖက်ရှင်အဖြစ်လည်းကောင်း၊ သို့မဟုတ် လက်လေးဖက်ရှင်အဖြစ်လည်းကောင်း။

Word by Word

• बलित्रिभङ्गिना: with the triple-bend posture and folds (of the body)
• बलित्रिभङ्गिना: Karana (करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: बलि + त्रि + भङ्गिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; (त्रि-भङ्गिन्) बहुव्रीहि/कर्मधारय-प्रायः ‘त्रिभङ्गयुक्त’ + बलि-सम्बन्ध (तत्पुरुष)

• भुग्ननाभिना: with a slightly bent navel
• भुग्ननाभिना: Karana (करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: भुग्न + नाभि (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारय (भुग्ना नाभिः यस्य/यत्)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (conjunction)

• उदरेण: with the belly/abdomen
• उदरेण: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उदर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (instr sg)

• वै: indeed
• वै: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वै (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निश्चयार्थक/पादपूरण (emphatic particle)

• प्रलम्बाष्टभुजम्: eight-armed (with long arms)
• प्रलम्बाष्टभुजम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: प्रलम्ब + अष्ट + भुज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; (अष्टभुज) द्विगु (अष्टौ भुजाः यस्य) + प्रलम्ब-विशेषण (दीर्घ)

• विष्णुम्: Vishnu
• विष्णुम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विष्णु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन (acc sg)

• अथवा: or else
• अथवा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथवा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विकल्पार्थक (disjunctive particle)

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/अप्यर्थ (also/even)

• चतुर्भुजम्: four-armed
• चतुर्भुजम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चतुर् + भुज (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति, एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (चत्वारः भुजाः यस्य)

Speaker

Narada

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhakti

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu

FAQs

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

It teaches a concrete dhyāna (meditative visualization) of Viṣṇu’s form, using bodily marks as supports for concentration, leading the mind toward steadiness and mokṣa-oriented devotion.

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

By permitting meditation on Viṣṇu in either aṣṭabhuja or caturbhuja form, it affirms accessible personal devotion (saguṇa-upāsanā), where loving contemplation of the Lord’s form becomes a practical bhakti discipline.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

It mainly reflects upāsanā and iconographic dhyāna practice rather than a Vedāṅga science; indirectly it aligns with ritual/meditative procedure (kalpa-style practicality) by prescribing a specific visualization for worship and japa.