Shloka 13
Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon
यदासीन्मानसं जन्म नारायणमुखोद्गतम् | ब्रह्मण: पृथिवीपाल तदा नारायण: स्वयम्
yad āsīn mānasaṃ janma nārāyaṇa-mukhodgatam | brahmaṇaḥ pṛthivīpāla tadā nārāyaṇaḥ svayam ||
Vaiśaṃpāyana disse: “Ó rei, quando, no início da criação, surgiu pela primeira vez a geração mental de Brahmā, emergindo da própria boca de Nārāyaṇa, naquele instante primordial o próprio Nārāyaṇa o instruiu neste Dharma. Por esse mesmo Dharma, Nārāyaṇa realizou os ritos de culto devidos aos deuses e aos ancestrais; e depois os sábios chamados Phenapas aceitaram e sustentaram esse Dharma.”
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Dharma is presented as primordial and authoritative: it originates with Nārāyaṇa, is taught to Brahmā at creation’s beginning, and is validated through practice—worship of gods and ancestors—before being received by later sages. The verse frames righteous ritual and ethical order as rooted in the divine source and transmitted through lineage.
Vaiśaṃpāyana recounts an origin-story: at the first emergence of Brahmā’s mind-born creation from Nārāyaṇa, Nārāyaṇa instructs Brahmā in a specific Dharma. Nārāyaṇa then exemplifies it by performing deva- and pitṛ-worship, and the Phenapa sages later adopt that same Dharma, showing its continuity across cosmic and human time.