Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 21

Śokanivāraṇa: Non-brooding, Impermanence, Contentment, and Śuka’s Renunciation

Devanagari script

यो यदिच्छेद्यथाकामं कामानां तत्तदाप्नुयात् । यदि स्यान्न पराधीनं पुरुषस्य क्रियाफलम् ॥ २१ ॥

Transliteration

yo yadicchedyathākāmaṃ kāmānāṃ tattadāpnuyāt | yadi syānna parādhīnaṃ puruṣasya kriyāphalam || 21 ||

Translation

လူ၏လုပ်ရပ်အကျိုးသည် အခြားအရာတစ်စုံတစ်ရာပေါ် မမှီခိုဘဲ ရှိနိုင်မယ်ဆိုလျှင်၊ မည်သူမဆို မိမိလိုချင်သမျှကို စိတ်ကြိုက်လိုသလို တိတိကျကျ ရရှိနိုင်မည်သာ ဖြစ်သည်။

Word by Word

• यः: who (he who)
• यः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• यत्: whatever (that which)
• यत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• इच्छेत्: should desire
• इच्छेत्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: इष्/इच्छ् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• यथा-कामम्: according to wish
• यथा-कामम्: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथा (अव्यय) + काम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; अव्यय (adverbial)

• कामानाम्: of desires
• कामानाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: काम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), बहुवचन

• तत्: that
• तत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम (correlative)

• तत्: that (each)
• तत्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative), एकवचन; पुनरुक्ति (each and every)

• आप्नुयात्: should obtain
• आप्नुयात्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आप् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• यदि: if
• यदि: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यदि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; शर्तार्थक-निपात (conditional particle)

• स्यात्: were/should be
• स्यात्: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• न: not
• न: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: न (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निषेध-निपात (negation)

• पराधीनम्: dependent on others
• पराधीनम्: Viśeṣya-dharma (विशेष्यधर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पर + अधीन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण

• पुरुषस्य: of a man/person
• पुरुषस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन

• क्रिया-फलम्: result of action
• क्रिया-फलम्: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्रिया (प्रातिपदिक) + फल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (action’s result)

Speaker

Sanatkumara (teaching Narada in the Moksha-Dharma dialogue)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: none

FAQs

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

It highlights that outcomes are not fully under individual control; this insight reduces ego and attachment to results, supporting the Moksha-Dharma emphasis on inner freedom and equanimity.

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

By showing that results are not merely “as we wish,” it encourages surrender of outcomes (phala-tyāga) and reliance on the higher order upheld by the Divine—an attitude central to mature Vishnu Bhakti.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

It implicitly supports Dharmic praxis in Kalpa (ritual discipline): correct effort is required, yet results depend on multiple conditions (including time, place, purity, and unseen factors), so one should perform duties without insisting on immediate, desired outcomes.