Padma Purana — Srishti Khanda, Shloka 14041

Brahmā’s Lotus-Birth, Puṣkara-Creation Imagery, Madhu–Kaiṭabha, and Early Genealogies

Devanagari script

पद्मनाभं हृषीकेशं प्रणिपत्य नतावुभौ । जानीवस्त्वां विश्वयोनिं त्वामेकं पुरुषोत्तमम्

Transliteration

padmanābhaṃ hṛṣīkeśaṃ praṇipatya natāvubhau | jānīvastvāṃ viśvayoniṃ tvāmekaṃ puruṣottamam

Translation

ပဒ္မနာဘ၊ ဟೃရှီကေရှကို ဒဏ္ဍဝတ်ဖြင့် ပျပ်ဝပ်နမസ്കာရပြု၍ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့နှစ်ဦးလုံး နိမ့်ချစွာ ဦးညွှတ်ကြ၏။ သင်သည် စကြဝဠာ၏ မူလအမြစ် (ဗိශ්ဝယောနိ) ဖြစ်ပြီး တစ်ပါးတည်းသော ပုရုရှೋတ္တမ ဟူ၍ ကျွန်ုပ်တို့ သိမြင်ပါသည်။

Word by Word

• पद्म-नाभम्: Padmanābha
• पद्म-नाभम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद्म (प्रातिपदिक) + नाभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; नाम

• हृषीकेशम्: Hṛṣīkeśa
• हृषीकेशम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: हृषीक (प्रातिपदिक) + ईश (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; नाम

• प्रणिपत्य: having bowed down
• प्रणिपत्य: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्र + नि + पत् (धातु) + ल्यप् (क्त्वा-समकक्ष)
• Form: ल्यबन्त अव्यय (gerund)

• नतौ: bowed (two)
• नतौ: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नत (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक, √नम्)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त, पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन; विशेषण

• उभौ: both
• उभौ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उभ (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, द्विवचन; सर्वनाम

• जानीवः: you two know
• जानीवः: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ज्ञा (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), द्विवचन; परस्मैपद

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीयपुरुष-सर्वनाम, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• विश्व-योनिम्: source of the universe
• विश्व-योनिम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विश्व (प्रातिपदिक) + योनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषणवत् नाम

• त्वाम्: you
• त्वाम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्वितीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• एकम्: one/unique
• एकम्: Visheshana (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण

• पुरुष-उत्तमम्: Puruṣottama (supreme person)
• पुरुष-उत्तमम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक) + उत्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; नाम

Speaker

Unspecified (two speakers speaking in unison to Viṣṇu; context not provided in the input)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: shanta

Secondary Rasa: adbhuta

Geographic Context

Type: temple

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: जानीवस्त्वाम् = जानीवः + त्वाम्; विश्वयोनिं = विश्व-योनिम् (समास); पुरुषोत्तमम् = पुरुष-उत्तमम् (समास)

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu (Padmanabha, Hrishikesha, Purushottama)

FAQs

What does this verse teach about Viṣṇu’s status in creation theology?

It identifies Viṣṇu as viśvayoni—the ultimate origin/source of the cosmos—and as the singular Puruṣottama, placing him at the theological center of creation.

How does the verse emphasize the path of Bhakti?

The act of praṇipāta (full prostration) and humble confession—“we recognize you”—models devotional surrender and reverence as a primary religious response.

What ethical or spiritual lesson is implied by “both of us bowed down”?

It highlights humility and shared submission to truth: spiritual insight is paired with reverent conduct, not merely intellectual assertion.