Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 31
Jīva–Ātman Inquiry; Kṣetrajña Doctrine; Karma-based Varṇa; Four Āśramas and Sannyāsa Discipline
पंचात्मके पञ्चरतौ पञ्चविज्ञानसंज्ञके । शरीरे प्राणिनां जीवं वेत्तुभिच्छामि यादृशम् ॥ ३१ ॥
paṃcātmake pañcaratau pañcavijñānasaṃjñake | śarīre prāṇināṃ jīvaṃ vettubhicchāmi yādṛśam || 31 ||
పంచాత్మకమైన, పంచవిషయాలలో రమించే, ‘పంచవిజ్ఞానం’ అని పిలువబడే ప్రాణుల ఈ శరీరంలో జీవుడు ఏ రూపమైనవాడో నేను తెలుసుకోవాలని కోరుతున్నాను।
Narada
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: shanta
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
FAQs
It frames a Moksha-Dharma inquiry: the jīva must be discerned as distinct from the five-element body and its sense-driven cognition, which is key to liberation-oriented knowledge.
By highlighting the body’s attraction to the five sense-objects, it implies the need to redirect attention from sensory pleasure toward the higher Self and, in bhakti-oriented reading, toward devotion to the Supreme as the means to transcend embodied identification.
No specific Vedāṅga technique is taught in this verse; it instead uses a Sāṅkhya-like analytical vocabulary (five elements, senses, cognition) to support discernment (viveka) in Moksha-Dharma.