Shloka 4

Adhyāya 108: Paścima-dik—Varuṇa’s Realm, Sunset Cosmology, and Sacred-Geographic Markers

Suparṇa–Gālava संवाद

Devanagari script

एतद द्वितीयं देवस्य द्वारमाचक्षते द्विज । त्रुटिशो लवशश्लापि गण्यते कालनिश्चय:

Transliteration

etad dvitīyaṁ devasya dvāram ācakṣate dvija | truṭiśo lavaśaś cāpi gaṇyate kālaniścayaḥ ||

Translation

Yuparṇa nói: “Hỡi bậc song sinh (dvija), người trí gọi đây là cổng thứ hai của Thần Pháp (Dharma). Tại đây, sự định lượng thời gian được ấn định, xét đến cả những đơn vị vi tế nhất như truṭi và lava.”

Word by Word

• {'etad': 'this', 'dvitīyam': 'second', 'devasya': 'of the deity

• of the divine lord', 'dvāram': 'gate, doorway, entrance', 'ācakṣate': 'they declare, they describe', 'dvija': 'twice-born (a Brahmin/initiated man)

• vocative address', 'truṭi': 'a very minute unit of time', 'lava': 'a minute unit of time (very small time-fraction)', 'śaḥ (in truṭiśaḥ, lavaśaḥ)': 'by units

• distributively', 'cāpi': 'and also', 'gaṇyate': 'is counted, is computed', 'kāla': 'time', 'niścayaḥ': 'certainty, fixed determination

Speaker

युपर्ण उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Yuparṇa
• dvija (addressed Brahmin)
• deva (the deity/divine lord)
• dvāra (gate)
• truṭi
• lava
• kāla (time)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that dharma and cosmic governance operate with exactness: even the smallest fractions of time are accounted for, implying that life, duty, and consequence are measured within a precise moral-cosmic order rather than by randomness.

What is happening in the narrative?

Yuparṇa addresses a dvija and points out a specific ‘second gate’ associated with the deity, describing it as a place/point where time is meticulously computed down to minute units like truṭi and lava—framing the setting as one of strict, systematic reckoning.