Shloka 1
Brahmā’s Enumeration of Primacies (Ādi) and the Supremacy of Knowledge
Jñāna
अपन क्रात छा ऑफ क्ााज चतुश्नत्वारिशो< ध्याय: सब पदार्थोके आदि-अन्तका और ज्ञानकी नित्यताका वर्णन ब्रह्मोवाच यदादिमध्यपर्यन्तं ग्रहणोपायमेव च । नामलक्षणसंयुक्तं सर्व वक्ष्यामि तत्त्वतः
brahmovāca | yad ādi-madhya-paryantaṁ grahaṇopāyam eva ca | nāma-lakṣaṇa-saṁyuktaṁ sarvaṁ vakṣyāmi tattvataḥ ||
Wika ni Brahmā: “Mga pantas, ngayo’y ipaliliwanag ko ayon sa katotohanan ang lahat—kalakip ang mga pangalan at mga palatandaang naglalarawan—ang simula, gitna, at wakas nito, at gayundin ang paraan upang ito’y maunawaan at masaklaw. Itinatakda ng aral na ito ang kaalaman bilang disiplinadong paghawak sa realidad sa pamamagitan ng malinaw na pagpapakahulugan at wastong pamamaraan, upang ang pag-unawa’y hindi maligaw sa kalituhan o maging payak na opinyon.”
वायुदेव उवाच
Educational Q&A
True knowledge requires (1) clear naming and defining characteristics (nāma–lakṣaṇa) and (2) a reliable method of apprehension (grahaṇopāya), applied to the whole course of a thing—its origin, development, and completion.
Brahmā begins an instructional discourse addressed to sages, announcing that he will systematically describe realities with their definitions and the proper means to understand them.