Shloka 13

Adhyaya 1 — Jaimini’s Questions on the Mahabharata and the Origin of the Wise Birds

Sanskrit

कस्मान्मानुषतां प्राप्तो निर्गुणोऽपि जनार्दनः ।

वासुदेवो जगत्सूतिस्थितिसंयमकारणम् ॥

Transliteration

kasmān mānuṣatāṃ prāpto nirguṇo ’pi janārdanaḥ /

vāsudevo jagatsūti-sthiti-saṃyama-kāraṇam

Translation

เหตุใดชนารทนะ แม้อยู่เหนือคุณทั้งสาม จึงบรรลุสภาพเป็นมนุษย์? วาสุเทวะเป็นเหตุแห่งการสร้าง การธำรง และการยับยั้ง/การถอนกลับของโลก.

Word by Word

• kasmāt: from what (cause)?
• kasmāt: Hetu/Apādāna (हेतु/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular; interrogative pronoun used adverbially ("from what cause?")

• mānuṣatām: human state / humanity
• mānuṣatām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mānuṣatā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; abstract noun

• prāptaḥ: has attained / reached
• prāptaḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (agreeing with subject)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √āp (धातु) + pra- (उपसर्ग); prāpta (कृदन्त, क्त)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त/ktá), Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; used predicatively with implied "asti"

• nirguṇaḥ: without qualities (nirguṇa)
• nirguṇaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nirguṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; adjective qualifying janārdanaḥ

• api: even / although
• api: Sambandha/Avyaya (सम्बन्ध/अव्यय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), concessive/emphatic

• janārdanaḥ: Janārdana (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)
• janārdanaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: janārdana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; proper epithet of Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa

• vāsudevaḥ: Vāsudeva
• vāsudevaḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (appositional)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vāsudeva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; apposition to janārdanaḥ

• jagat-sūti-sthiti-saṃyama-kāraṇam: the cause of the world’s creation, maintenance, and restraint
• jagat-sūti-sthiti-saṃyama-kāraṇam: Viśeṣya/Pradhāna (विशेष्य/प्रधान) (predicate complement)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jagat (प्रातिपदिक) + sūti (प्रातिपदिक) + sthiti (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃyama (प्रातिपदिक) + kāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा) or Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; samāsa functioning as predicate noun in apposition to vāsudevaḥ

Speakers

• Frame-dialogue context (early Markandeya Purana). Speaker identification varies by recension; this verse functions as a question posed within the opening inquiry.

Verse Rasa

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

Primary Deities

• Vāsudeva (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)
• Janārdana (Viṣṇu/Kṛṣṇa)

Key Themes

• Cosmology
• Theology
• Avatara doctrine
• Nirguṇa–saguṇa problem
• Creation–maintenance–dissolution

FAQs

What is the philosophical or ethical takeaway?

The verse foregrounds a classic Purāṇic and Vedāntic question: how the transcendent (nirguṇa) Lord can appear in an embodied, human mode. The implied resolution (developed in surrounding passages) is that avatāra is not bondage-driven embodiment, but a voluntary manifestation for protection of dharma and cosmic order; the same Lord remains the ultimate causal ground of the universe.

How does this fit the Pancalakshana (5 characteristics)?

Primarily Sarga (creation) and, by extension, Pratisarga (withdrawal/renewal), since it explicitly names the Lord as the cause of creation (sūti), maintenance (sthiti), and restraint/withdrawal (saṃyama). It also supports the Purāṇic theological framing that underlies the narration of cosmic cycles.

What is the esoteric significance?

Nirguṇa indicates the Absolute beyond limiting attributes, while “mānuṣatāṃ prāptaḥ” signals the compassionate accessibility of that Absolute through a form approachable to devotees. The triad “sūti–sthiti–saṃyama” encodes the cyclical rhythm of manifestation, preservation, and reabsorption—suggesting that the avatāra is not an anomaly but an intentional expression of the same sovereign power that governs cosmic cycles.