Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 39

The Exposition of Nṛsiṁha Worship-Mantras, Nyāsa, Mudrās, Yantras, Kavaca, and Nṛsiṁha Gāyatrī

Devanagari script

त्रिशूलवत् संमुखोर्द्ध्वे कुर्यान्मुद्रा ं नृसिंहगाम् । अङ्गुष्ठाभ्यां च करयोस्तथाऽक्रम्य कनिष्ठके ॥ ३९ ॥

Transliteration

triśūlavat saṃmukhorddhve kuryānmudrā ṃ nṛsiṃhagām | aṅguṣṭhābhyāṃ ca karayostathā'kramya kaniṣṭhake || 39 ||

Translation

လက်နှစ်ဖက်ကို ရှေ့ဘက်တွင် မြှောက်၍ သုံးခွဆူး (တရိရှူလ) ပုံစံကဲ့သို့ ပြုကာ နရသിംဟမုဒြာကို ဖွဲ့ရမည်။ ထို့ပြင် လက်နှစ်ဖက်၏ လက်မတို့ဖြင့် လက်ချောင်းကလေး (ကနိဋ္ဌက) များကိုလည်း ဖိနှိပ်ရမည်။

Word by Word

• triśūlavat: like a trident
• triśūlavat: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: triśūla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Taddhita -vat (वत्) forming avyaya/adverbial ‘like’; upamā-avyaya

• saṃmukha-ūrdhve: in front and upward
• saṃmukha-ūrdhve: Deśa-viśeṣaṇa (देश-विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: saṃmukha (प्रातिपदिक) + ūrdhva (प्रातिपदik)
• Form: Avyayībhāva-samāsa used adverbially; locative sense ‘in front and upward’

• kuryāt: should make/do
• kuryāt: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (धातु)
• Form: Vidhiliṅ-lakāra (optative), Parasmaipada; Madhyama-puruṣa, Ekavacana

• mudrām: mudrā/gesture
• mudrām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mudrā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana

• nṛsiṃha-gām: leading to/associated with Narasiṃha
• nṛsiṃha-gām: Karma-viśeṣaṇa (कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nṛsiṃha (प्रातिपदिक) + gā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Strīliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; tatpuruṣa; adjective qualifying mudrām

• aṅguṣṭhābhyām: with the two thumbs
• aṅguṣṭhābhyām: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: aṅguṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā (3rd case), Dvivacana

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Samuccaya-avyaya (conjunction)

• karayoḥ: of the two hands
• karayoḥ: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Ṣaṣṭhī (6th case), Dvivacana

• tathā: likewise/so
• tathā: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Prakāra-avyaya (adverb)

• ākramya: having pressed
• ākramya: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-√kram (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive (lyap), avyaya-kṛdanta; ‘having pressed/stepped upon’

• kaniṣṭhake: the two little fingers
• kaniṣṭhake: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kaniṣṭhakā/kaniṣṭhaka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Dvitīyā, Dvivacana (dual of kaniṣṭhaka ‘little finger’); object of ākramya

Speaker

Sanatkumara (in instruction to Narada on ritual/technical procedure)

Vrata Kalpa

Vrata: none

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: vira

Characters & Entities

• Narasiṃha
• Vishnu

FAQs

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

It encodes a precise upāsanā technique: forming the Narasiṃha-mudrā as a bodily aid to invoke protective, fear-destroying Viṣṇu-energy (Narasiṃha) during worship.

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

Bhakti here is expressed through disciplined ritual action—using a prescribed mudrā to focus mind and body on Narasiṃha, reinforcing single-pointed remembrance and reverence in pūjā.

What practical Vedic knowledge (Vedanga) is highlighted here?

A technical ritual detail (prayoga) is taught—hand positioning and finger pressure for a specific mudrā—illustrating the Narada Purana’s procedural, śāstra-style instruction within its technical sciences section.