Shloka 6

Devanagari script

ताम् आदायात्मनो मूर्ध्नि स्रजम् उन्मत्तरूपधृक् कृत्वा स विप्रो मैत्रेय परिबभ्राम मेदिनीम्

Transliteration

tām ādāyātmano mūrdhni srajam unmattarūpadhṛk kṛtvā sa vipro maitreya paribabhrāma medinīm

Translation

Tomando a guirlanda e colocando-a sobre a própria cabeça, o brāhmaṇa, assumindo o disfarce de um enlouquecido, vagou pela terra, ó Maitreya.

Word by Word

• tām: that (garland)
• tām: Karma (Object/कर्म) (of ādāya)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• ādāya: having taken
• ādāya: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ā-dā (धातु) → ādāya (क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्ययभाव-क्त्वान्त (gerund), ‘having taken’

• ātmanaḥ: of himself
• ātmanaḥ: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; genitive ‘of himself’

• mūrdhni: on (his) head
• mūrdhni: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mūrdhan (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

• srajam: the garland
• srajam: Karma (Object/कर्म) (of implied placing/holding)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sraj (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

• unmattarūpadhṛk: bearing the guise of a madman
• unmattarūpadhṛk: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) (qualifier of sa/vipraḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: unmatta + rūpa + dhṛ (धातु) → dhṛk (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (‘mad-form’ + ‘bearing’), धृ-धातुज कृदन्त (धृक् = ‘bearer’), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• kṛtvā: having made (himself)
• kṛtvā: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kṛ (धातु) → kṛtvā (क्त्वा-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्ययभाव-क्त्वान्त (gerund), ‘having done/made’

• sa: he
• sa: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• vipraḥ: the brāhmaṇa
• vipraḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता) (apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• maitreya: O Maitreya
• maitreya: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maitreya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन

• paribabhrāma: wandered about
• paribabhrāma: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: pari-bhram (धातु)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद, प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन

• medinīm: the earth
• medinīm: Karma (Object/कर्म) (of paribabhrāma: ‘wandered over’)
• Type: Noun
• Root: medinī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Teaching: Historical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The sage’s ‘unmatta’ guise signals freedom from loka-maryādā (worldly regard) born of inner detachment.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Practice non-attachment to social approval and cultivate steadiness of mind while fulfilling one’s duties.

Vishishtadvaita: Detachment is not nihilism but a mode of living under the Lord’s governance, where the jīva acts without ego while remaining a dependent (śeṣa) of Bhagavān.

Vaishnava Theology

Bhakti Type: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• a brāhmaṇa (vipra)

FAQs

What is the significance of a brāhmaṇa taking on the guise of madness in the Vishnu Purana?

It signals deliberate detachment from social expectation—an outward “madness” that can conceal inner restraint, allowing the narrative to explore dharma and renunciation without concern for worldly approval.

How does Sage Parāśara present this episode to Maitreya—history, allegory, or moral instruction?

Parāśara frames it as narrative instruction: a concrete episode whose details (garland, disguise, wandering) function as moral cues about conduct, self-mastery, and the testing of social norms.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic frame assumes dharma and cosmic order ultimately rest in Vishnu’s sovereignty; individual actions are read against that larger sustaining reality.