Shloka 83

Āścarya-kathana: Brāhmaṇa–Nāga Dialogue on Sūrya (Vivasvat) and the ‘Second Sun’ Phenomenon

Devanagari script

यथा समुद्रात्‌ प्रसूता जलौघा- स्तमेव राजन्‌ पुनराविशन्ति । इमे तथा ज्ञानमहाजलौघा नारायणं वै पुनराविशन्ति

Transliteration

yathā samudrāt prasūtā jalaughās tameva rājan punar āviśanti | ime tathā jñāna-mahā-jalaughā nārāyaṇaṃ vai punar āviśanti, rājan |

Translation

ไวศัมปายนะกล่าวว่า—ข้าแต่พระราชา! ดุจสายน้ำมากมายกำเนิดจากมหาสมุทรแล้วไหลกลับเข้าสู่มหาสมุทรเดิม ฉันใด กระแสธารอันยิ่งใหญ่แห่งญาณเหล่านี้ก็อุบัติจากพระนารายณ์ แล้วกลับคืนไปหลอมรวมในพระองค์เท่านั้น ฉันนั้น

Word by Word

• {'yathā': 'just as, in the same way as', 'samudrāt': 'from the ocean (ablative of samudra)', 'prasūtāḥ': 'born, produced, arisen', 'jalaughāḥ': 'floods/streams of water

• torrents (jala + ogha)', 'tam eva': 'that very (one) alone', 'rājan': 'O king (vocative)', 'punar': 'again, once more', 'āviśanti': 'they enter, they merge into', 'ime': 'these', 'tathā': 'so, likewise', 'jñāna': 'knowledge, wisdom', 'mahā': 'great, mighty', 'nārāyaṇam': 'Nārāyaṇa (the supreme divine principle/person)', 'vai': 'indeed, certainly'}

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Nārāyaṇa
• samudra (ocean)
• rājan (the king, i.e., the listener addressed)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

All currents of knowledge originate from Nārāyaṇa and ultimately culminate by merging back into Him—like rivers or torrents that arise from the ocean and return to it—implying a single ultimate source and end of wisdom.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana addresses the king and uses an ocean-and-torrents analogy to explain a doctrinal point in the Śānti Parva: diverse teachings and insights are portrayed as emanations from Nārāyaṇa that finally resolve into the same supreme reality.