Shloka 38

Adhyaya 4 — Jaimini Meets the Dharmapakshis: Four Doubts on the Mahabharata and the Opening of Narayana Doctrine

Sanskrit

यस्मादणुतरं नास्ति यस्मान्नास्ति बृहत्तरम् ।

येन विश्वमिदं व्याप्तमजेन जगदादिना ॥

Transliteration

yasmād aṇutaraṃ nāsti yasmān nāsti bṛhattaram |

yena viśvam idaṃ vyāptam ajena jagad-ādinā ||

Translation

ఆయనకన్నా సూక్ష్మమైనది ఏదీ లేదు, ఆయనకన్నా మహత్తరమైనది ఏదీ లేదు—ఆ అజుడు, జగత్తు యొక్క ఆదిమ మూలమైన ఆయనచేత ఈ సమస్త విశ్వం వ్యాపించబడి ఉంది.

Word by Word

यस्मात्than whom / from whom

अणुतरम्smaller (more minute)

नnot

अस्तिis

यस्मात्than whom

नnot

अस्तिis

बृहत्तरम्greater, larger

येनby whom

विश्वम्the universe

इदम्this

व्याप्तम्is pervaded

अजेनby the unborn one

जगदादिनाby the origin of the world

Speakers

Unspecified from the provided excerpt (likely narrator within early doctrinal/cosmological passage)

Verse Rasa

{ "primaryRasa": "adbhuta", "secondaryRasa": "shanta", "rasaIntensity": 0, "emotionalArcPosition": "", "moodDescriptors": [] }

Primary Deities

Aja (the Unborn Supreme Principle—often identified with Brahman/Paramatman, sometimes with Narayana or Shiva depending on context)

Key Themes

CosmologyNon-dual/Transcendent theologyOmnipresenceSupreme cause (jagad-ādi)

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse asserts a Supreme Reality that is simultaneously beyond the smallest and beyond the greatest—transcending all measures—yet immanent as the pervader of the cosmos. Ethically, it supports reverence for all beings as pervaded by the one primordial principle, encouraging humility and non-harm grounded in metaphysical unity.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily aligns with Sarga (creation) and to a degree Pratisarga (re-creation) insofar as it identifies the primordial, unborn source and the all-pervasive ground by which the universe is constituted and sustained.

What is the esoteric significance?

‘Nothing subtler, nothing greater’ points to the paradox of the Absolute: it is both beyond the atom (aṇu) and beyond the cosmic totality (bṛhat). The ‘Unborn’ (aja) indicates causality without temporal origination—pure being-consciousness as the substrate—while ‘pervasion’ (vyāpti) suggests that the sacred is not elsewhere but present throughout manifestation.