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

Vaiśampāyana nói: Tâu Đại vương, như muôn dòng nước phát sinh từ biển cả rồi lại đổ về chính biển ấy, cũng vậy, những dòng thác lớn của tri thức phát lộ từ Nārāyaṇa và, tâu Đại vương, lại trở về hòa tan trong Ngài mà thôi.

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.