Shloka 18

Devanagari script

अव्यक्ताय सुसूक्ष्माय निर्गुणाय गुणात्मने । स एष पुरुषव्याघत्र पीतवासा जनार्दन:

Transliteration

avyaktāya susūkṣmāya nirguṇāya guṇātmane | sa eṣa puruṣavyāghra pītavāsā janārdanaḥ ||

Translation

แด่ผู้ไม่ปรากฏ ผู้ละเอียดล้ำ ผู้ไร้คุณลักษณะและกระนั้นเป็นฐานแห่งคุณลักษณะทั้งปวง—ผู้นั้นแลคือชนารทนะ ผู้ทรงภูษาสีเหลือง โอ วีรบุรุษผู้ดุจพยัคฆ์

Word by Word

• अव्यक्ताय: to the unmanifest
• अव्यक्ताय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अव्यक्त
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Dative, Singular

• सुसूक्ष्माय: to the very subtle
• सुसूक्ष्माय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुसूक्ष्म
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Dative, Singular

• निर्गुणाय: to the attributeless
• निर्गुणाय: Sampradana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निर्गुण
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Dative, Singular

• गुणात्मने: to the one whose essence is (the) guṇas
• गुणात्मने: Sampradana
• Type: Noun (used adjectivally)
• Root: गुणात्मन्
• Form: Masculine, Dative, Singular

• सः: he
• सः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: तद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• एषः: this (one)
• एषः: Karta
• Type: Pronoun
• Root: एतद्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• पुरुषव्याघ्र: O tiger among men
• Type: Noun (vocative)
• Root: पुरुषव्याघ्र
• Form: Masculine, Vocative, Singular

• पीतवासा: the yellow-robed one
• पीतवासा: Karta
• Type: Adjective (used as noun/epithet)
• Root: पीतवस्
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• जनार्दनः: Janārdana (Krishna/Vishnu)
• जनार्दनः: Karta
• Type: Noun (proper epithet)
• Root: जनार्दन
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशम्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśampāyana
• Janārdana (Kṛṣṇa/Viṣṇu)
• pītavāsa (yellow garment)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse identifies Janārdana as transcendent (unmanifest, subtle, beyond limiting qualities) while also immanent as the basis of all qualities (guṇātman). It frames devotion and recognition of the divine as compatible with philosophical insight into nirguṇa and saguṇa aspects.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśampāyana, as narrator, describes Janārdana with exalted metaphysical epithets and a recognizable iconographic marker (yellow garments), presenting him to the listener as the supreme figure worthy of reverence.