Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 57

Maṅgalācaraṇa, Naimiṣāraṇya-Sabhā, Sūta-Āhvāna, and Narada Purāṇa-Māhātmya

Devanagari script

यदस्य श्रवणे भाक्तिरन्यथा नहि जायते । सत्कथासु प्रर्वतन्ते सज्जना ये जगाद्धिताः ॥ ५६ ॥

Transliteration

yadasya śravaṇe bhāktiranyathā nahi jāyate | satkathāsu prarvatante sajjanā ye jagāddhitāḥ || 56 ||

Translation

ဤအရာကို နားထောင်ခြင်းဖြင့်သာ ဘက္တိ (bhakti) ပေါ်ပေါက်လာသည်—အခြားနည်းဖြင့် မပေါ်ပေါက်။ လောကအကျိုးကို လိုလားသော သုစရိုက်သူတော်ကောင်းတို့သည် သတ္ကထာ၊ သန့်ရှင်းမြတ်နိုးသော တရားကထာများတွင် ပါဝင်လှုပ်ရှားကြသည်။

Word by Word

• यत्: that which
• यत्: Karma (कर्म/that which)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक (relative)

• अस्य: of him/of this (person)
• अस्य: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इदम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• श्रवणे: in hearing
• श्रवणे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: श्रवण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन

• भक्तिः: devotion
• भक्तिः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भक्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• अन्यथा: otherwise
• अन्यथा: Kriya-visheshana (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अन्यथा (अव्यय)
• Form: क्रियाविशेषण (adverb), अव्यय; प्रकारवाचक (otherwise)

• नहि: not indeed
• नहि: Pratishedha (प्रतिषेध/Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: नहि (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेधार्थक निपात (negative particle)

• जायते: arises/is born
• जायते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• सत्कथासु: in good discourses
• सत्कथासु: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्-कथा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), बहुवचन; समासः (कर्मधारय): सत् कथा = good stories/discourses

• प्रवर्तन्ते: engage/proceed
• प्रवर्तन्ते: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: प्र+वृत् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; आत्मनेपद

• सज्जनाः: good people
• सज्जनाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सत्-जन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; समासः (कर्मधारय): सज्जन = good person

• ये: who
• ये: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: यद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक (relative pronoun)

• जगत्-हिताः: beneficial to the world
• जगत्-हिताः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: जगत्-हित (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; विशेषण; समासः (तत्पुरुष): जगतः हिताः = beneficial to the world

Speaker

Suta (narrator) conveying the teaching within the Narada–Sanatkumara dialogue frame

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: bhakti

Secondary Rasa: shanta

FAQs

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

It declares śravaṇa (devotional hearing) as the primary catalyst for bhakti, and portrays satkathā as the natural field in which virtuous, world-benefiting people operate.

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

It emphasizes that bhakti is awakened through listening to sacred teachings and narratives, implying that sustained engagement with satkathā is a practical method for cultivating devotion.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

The verse highlights śravaṇa as a core discipline of transmission—listening carefully to authoritative discourse—supporting Vedic learning practices (especially correct reception of teaching, which underlies śikṣā and vyākaraṇa study), though no specific Vedanga is named.