Shloka 20
Puruṣottama-māhātmya
The Greatness of Puruṣottama Kṣetra
सर्वांगेभ्यो यथा श्रेष्ठमुत्तमांगं विधातृजे । यथा समस्तविद्यानां मोक्षविद्या परा स्मृता ॥ २० ॥
sarvāṃgebhyo yathā śreṣṭhamuttamāṃgaṃ vidhātṛje | yathā samastavidyānāṃ mokṣavidyā parā smṛtā || 20 ||
Ó filho de Brahmā, assim como a cabeça é o melhor entre todos os membros, do mesmo modo, entre todos os ramos do saber, o conhecimento que conduz à mokṣa (libertação) é lembrado como supremo.
Narada
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: bhakti
FAQs
It ranks spiritual priorities: as the head governs the body, mokṣa-vidyā (liberating wisdom) is presented as the highest pursuit, guiding all other practices toward final freedom.
By placing liberation as the supreme aim, it implicitly frames bhakti (especially Vishnu-bhakti in the Narada tradition) as valuable when it culminates in moksha—devotion ripening into liberating realization.
The verse does not teach a specific Vedāṅga technique (like Vyākaraṇa or Jyotiṣa); instead, it gives a hierarchy of aims, implying that technical sciences are supportive, while mokṣa-vidyā is the crown.