Padma Purana — Srishti Khanda, Shloka 35

Brahmā’s Puṣkara Sacrifice: Kokāmukha Tīrtha, Varāha’s Aid, and the Arrival of Gāyatrī

Devanagari script

सेतुर्यो लोकसेतूनां मेध्यो यो मेध्यकर्मणाम् । वेद्यो यो वेदविदुषां यः प्रभुः प्रभवात्मनाम्

Transliteration

seturyo lokasetūnāṃ medhyo yo medhyakarmaṇām | vedyo yo vedaviduṣāṃ yaḥ prabhuḥ prabhavātmanām

Translation

ထိုအရှင်သည် လောကတို့၏ တံတားများအနက် အမြင့်မြတ်ဆုံး တံတားဖြစ်၏; သန့်စင်ကာရမများအနက် အလွန်သန့်စင်စေသူဖြစ်၏; ဝေဒကို သိမြင်သူများအတွက်သာ အမှန်တကယ် သိနိုင်သူဖြစ်၏; အာဏာနှင့် ပေါ်ပေါက်ခြင်းသဘောရှိသူတို့၏ အရှင်ဖြစ်၏။

Word by Word

• setuḥ: bridge; causeway; boundary
• setuḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: setu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (प्रथमा/1), Singular (एकवचन)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Viśeṣya (विशेष्य/Correlative subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Masculine, Nominative singular

• lokasetūnām: of the bridges/supports of the worlds
• lokasetūnām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: loka-setu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Plural (बहुवचन); compound: loka + setu

• medhyaḥ: pure; sacrificially fit
• medhyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: medhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative singular; 'fit for sacrifice/purification'

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Masculine, Nominative singular

• medhya-karmaṇām: of purificatory rites
• medhya-karmaṇām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: medhya-karman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Plural (बहुवचन); compound: medhya (purificatory) + karman (rites)

• vedyaḥ: knowable
• vedyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vedya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Kṛdanta (कृदन्त) -ya (य) gerundive from √vid/√ved (विद्/वेद्), Masculine, Nominative singular; 'to be known'

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Masculine, Nominative singular

• veda-viduṣām: of the knowers of the Veda
• veda-viduṣām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: veda-vidvas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (षष्ठी/6), Plural; compound: veda + vidvas (knower)

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Masculine, Nominative singular

• prabhuḥ: lord; master
• prabhuḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative singular

• prabhava-ātmanām: of those whose nature is power/origin; of potent beings
• prabhava-ātmanām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: prabhava-ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive plural; compound: prabhava (origin/power) + ātman (nature/selves)

Speaker

Unspecified in the provided excerpt (context needed from surrounding verses).

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: seturyo = setuḥ + yaḥ; lokasetūnām is a tatpuruṣa compound; vedaviduṣām = veda + viduṣām (from vidvas).

FAQs

Who is being praised as the 'bridge among the bridges of the worlds' in this verse?

The verse is a stuti (praise) describing a supreme Lord as the ultimate support and connector (setu) beyond all other worldly supports; the specific deity cannot be fixed from this single verse without the surrounding chapter context.

What is the spiritual meaning of calling the Lord 'medhya' and 'vedya'?

'Medhya' presents the Lord as intrinsically purifying—greater than ritual purity itself—while 'vedya' indicates that the deepest knowledge of the Lord is realized by true Vedic knowers, not merely inferred.

What ethical or devotional lesson does this verse convey?

It teaches prioritizing inner sanctity and God-realization over external supports: the highest refuge is the divine source of purity and true knowledge, worthy of reverence above all secondary means.