Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 8

Prāyaścitta for Mahāpātakas and the Sin-destroying Power of Viṣṇu-smaraṇa

Devanagari script

तदभावे मुनिश्रष्ट कपालं वान्यमेव वा । तद्द्रव्यं ध्वजदंडे तु धृत्वा वनचरो भवेत् ॥ ८ ॥

Transliteration

tadabhāve muniśraṣṭa kapālaṃ vānyameva vā | taddravyaṃ dhvajadaṃḍe tu dhṛtvā vanacaro bhavet || 8 ||

Translation

အို မုနိအထွတ်အမြတ်ရေ၊ ထိုအရာ မရရှိလျှင် ခေါင်းခွံခွက်တစ်လုံး သို့မဟုတ် သင့်တော်သော အခြားအိုးတစ်လုံးကို ယူနိုင်သည်။ ထိုလိုအပ်သော ပစ္စည်းကို အလံတိုင်ပေါ်တွင် တင်ဆောင်၍ တောတွင်းလှည့်လည်သော တပသီအဖြစ် နေထိုင်ရမည်။

Word by Word

• तत्-अभावे: in the absence of that
• तत्-अभावे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + अभाव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; समासः—तस्य अभावः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• मुनि-श्रेष्ठ: O best of sages
• मुनि-श्रेष्ठ: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मुनि (प्रातिपदिक) + श्रेष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन, एकवचन; समासः—मुनीनां श्रेष्ठः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• कपालम्: a skull
• कपालम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कपाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (or)

• अन्यम्: another (substitute)
• अन्यम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणम् (qualifying कपालम्)

• एव: indeed/only
• एव: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अवधारणार्थक-अव्यय

• वा: or
• वा: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: वा (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय

• तत्-द्रव्यम्: that material/object
• तत्-द्रव्यम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + द्रव्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; समासः—तस्य द्रव्यम् (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• ध्वज-दण्डे: on a flagstaff/pole
• ध्वज-दण्डे: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ध्वज (प्रातिपदिक) + दण्ड (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन; समासः—ध्वजस्य दण्डः (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• तु: then/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विशेषार्थक-अव्यय

• धृत्वा: having held/placed
• धृत्वा: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: धृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त-अव्यय (absolutive/gerund): 'having placed/held'

• वन-चरः: a forest-dweller
• वन-चरः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन (प्रातिपदिक) + चर (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त-प्राय)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; समासः—वने चरति (उपपद-तत्पुरुष)

• भवेत्: should become
• भवेत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: विधिलिङ् (Optative), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

Speaker

Sanatkumara (addressing Narada)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: karuna

Characters & Entities

• Narada
• Sanatkumara

FAQs

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

It emphasizes inner resolve over external resources: when standard means are unavailable, a renunciant may adopt austere substitutes and continue disciplined life as a forest-dweller.

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

By prioritizing steadfast practice over material dependence, it supports bhakti as sincerity-based—devotion continues even with minimal implements, sustained by detachment and dedication.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

Ritual pragmatics (kalpa-oriented application): it permits sanctioned substitutions for implements/materials, showing how dharma practice adapts when prescribed items are unobtainable.