Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 26

Gṛhastha-nitya-karman: Śauca, Sandhyā-vidhi, Pañca-yajña, and Āśrama-krama

Devanagari script

कनिष्ठाग्रसमं स्थौल्ये विप्रः खादेद्दशांगुलम् । नवांगुलं क्षत्रियश्च वैश्यश्चाष्टांगुलोन्मितम् ॥ २६ ॥

Transliteration

kaniṣṭhāgrasamaṃ sthaulye vipraḥ khādeddaśāṃgulam | navāṃgulaṃ kṣatriyaśca vaiśyaścāṣṭāṃgulonmitam || 26 ||

Translation

အစားအစာပမာဏကို လက်ချောင်းသေး (ကနိဋ္ဌာ) ၏ အကျယ်ဖြင့် တိုင်းတာလျှင်၊ ဗြာဟ္မဏသည် လက်ချောင်းအကျယ် ဆယ်ခုစာ စားသင့်၏။ က္ଷတ္ရိယသည် ကိုးခုစာ၊ ဝိုင်ရှျသည် ရှစ်ခုစာ စားသင့်၏။

Word by Word

• कनिष्ठा-अग्र-समम्: equal to the tip of the little finger (in thickness)
• कनिष्ठा-अग्र-समम्: विशेषण (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: कनिष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक) + अग्र (प्रातिपदिक) + सम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘कनिष्ठायाः अग्रेण समम्’ = equal to the tip of the little finger; विशेषणम् (दन्तकाष्ठम् implied)

• स्थौल्ये: in thickness
• स्थौल्ये: अधिकरण (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थौल्‍य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; विषय/अधिकरण: ‘in thickness’

• विप्रः: a Brahmin
• विप्रः: कर्ता (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विप्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• खादेत्: should chew
• खादेत्: क्रिया (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: खाद् (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• दश-अङ्गुलम्: ten finger-breadths (long)
• दश-अङ्गुलम्: विशेषण (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: दश (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + अङ्गुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; द्विगु-समास: ‘दश अङ्गुलानि प्रमाणं यस्य’ (ten-finger-length); विशेषणम् (दन्तकाष्ठम् implied)

• नव-अङ्गुलम्: nine finger-breadths (long)
• नव-अङ्गुलम्: विशेषण (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नव (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + अङ्गुल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; द्विगु; विशेषणम् (दन्तकाष्ठम् implied)

• क्षत्रियः: a Kshatriya
• क्षत्रियः: कर्ता (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षत्रिय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

• वैश्यः: a Vaishya
• वैश्यः: कर्ता (Agent/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वैश्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: समुच्चय (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

• अष्ट-अङ्गुल-उन्मितम्: measured as eight finger-breadths (long)
• अष्ट-अङ्गुल-उन्मितम्: विशेषण (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अष्ट (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + अङ्गुल (प्रातिपदिक) + उन्मित (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्ताधारित)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: ‘अष्टाङ्गुलैः उन्मितम्’ = measured as eight finger-breadths; विशेषणम् (दन्तकाष्ठम् implied)

Speaker

Narada (teaching in a Dharma/ācāra instruction sequence)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: none

Characters & Entities

• Brāhmaṇa
• Kṣatriya
• Vaiśya

FAQs

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

It teaches restraint (niyama) through regulated eating, presenting self-control as a dharmic support for clarity of mind and steadiness in religious practice.

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

By emphasizing disciplined daily conduct, it supports bhakti indirectly: a regulated body and senses make japa, pūjā, and remembrance of the Lord easier and more consistent.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

A practical measurement principle using aṅgula (finger-breadth) appears—an applied, technical way of standardizing practice, akin to the precision valued in śikṣā and kalpa-style ritual discipline.