Shloka 43
Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon
कुक्षिनाम्ने स प्रददौ दिशां पालाय धर्मिणे | ततोअप्यन्तर्दधे भूयो नारायणमुखोद्भव:
kukṣināmne sa pradadau diśāṃ pālāya dharmiṇe | tato 'py antardadhe bhūyo nārāyaṇamukhodbhavaḥ ||
वैशम्पायन उवाच—कुक्षिनाम्ने स प्रददौ दिशां पालाय धर्मिणे । ततोऽप्यन्तर्दधे भूयो नारायणमुखोद्भवः ।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
Educational Q&A
Sacred dharma-teachings endure only through proper transmission to qualified, righteous custodians; when that chain weakens, even a revelation originating from Nārāyaṇa can become ‘hidden’ (antardadhe), i.e., lost from common practice and memory.
The speaker reports a handover of the Sātvata dharma to a dikpāla named Kukṣi, and then notes that the teaching again disappeared—signaling a recurring cycle of revelation, transmission, and decline within the world.