Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 53

Dharma-ākhyāna (Discourse on Dharma): Worthy Charity, Fruitless Gifts, and the Merit of Building Ponds

Devanagari script

तडागं कारयेद्यस्तु स्वयमेवापरेण वा । वक्तुं तत्पुण्यसंख्यानं नालं वर्षशतायुषा ॥ ५४ ॥

Transliteration

taḍāgaṃ kārayedyastu svayamevāpareṇa vā | vaktuṃ tatpuṇyasaṃkhyānaṃ nālaṃ varṣaśatāyuṣā || 54 ||

Translation

ရေကန် (တဒာဂ) ကို ကိုယ်တိုင်ဖြစ်စေ အခြားသူအားဖြင့်ဖြစ်စေ ဆောက်လုပ်စေသူအတွက်၊ ထိုကုသိုလ်၏ အရေအတွက်ကို ပြောဆိုဖော်ပြရန် အသက်တစ်ရာရှိသူတောင် မလုံလောက်နိုင်။

Word by Word

• taḍāgam: a pond/tank
• taḍāgam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: taḍāga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन

• kārayet: should cause to be made
• kārayet: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु)
• Form: णिच्-प्रत्ययान्त (Causative); लकारः—विधिलिङ् (Optative); पुरुषः—प्रथम; वचनम्—एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; सम्बन्धवाचक

• tu: indeed/but
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: तु-अव्यय (contrast/emphasis particle)

• svayam: oneself
• svayam: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: svayam (अव्यय)
• Form: स्वयम्-अव्यय (reflexive adverb: oneself)

• eva: only/indeed
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: एव-अव्यय (restrictive/emphatic particle)

• apareṇa: by another (person)
• apareṇa: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: apara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचन

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (disjunctive particle: or)

• vaktum: to tell
• vaktum: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/Infinitive purpose)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्तः—तुमुन् (Infinitive)

• tat-puṇya-saṃkhyānam: the counting of that merit
• tat-puṇya-saṃkhyānam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + puṇya (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃkhyāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (tasya puṇyasya saṃkhyānam); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; द्वितीया; एकवचन

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय

• alam: enough
• alam: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/idiomatic)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: alam (अव्यय)
• Form: पर्याप्त्यर्थक-अव्यय (enough/adequate)

• varṣa-śata-āyuṣā: with a lifespan of a hundred years
• varṣa-śata-āyuṣā: Karana (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: varṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + śata (प्रातिपदिक) + āyus (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समासः—बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (varṣaśatasya āyuḥ; तेन); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; तृतीया; एकवचन

Speaker

Narada (teaching in a dharma-upadesha context)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

FAQs

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

It elevates loka-hita (public welfare) as a powerful form of dharma: creating a water source sustains life and therefore generates immeasurable puṇya.

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

Though not explicitly naming a deity, it frames selfless service as a devotional attitude—acting for the good of beings, which aligns with bhakti’s spirit of offering and compassion.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

No specific Vedanga is taught directly; the verse emphasizes practical dharma (ritual-ethical duty) by recommending socially beneficial works as a meritorious religious act.