Shloka 16

Pitāmaha-sabhā-varṇana & Hariścandra-māhātmya

Description of Brahmā’s Assembly and the Eminence of Hariścandra

Devanagari script

अति चन्द्र च सूर्य च शिखिनं च स्वयम्प्रभा । दीप्यते नाकपृष्ठस्था भर्त्सयन्तीव भास्करम्‌

Transliteration

ati candraṃ ca sūryaṃ ca śikhinaṃ ca svayaṃprabhā | dīpyate nākapṛṣṭhasthā bhartsayantīva bhāskaram ||

Translation

那罗陀说道：“那座天界会堂自明自炽，光焰胜过火、月与日；它闪耀如同轻蔑太阳之轮。其位在诸天之上，放射无数奇妙光辉——乃超凡神威之象，使寻常的权势与炫耀尽皆黯然。”

Word by Word

• {'ati': 'exceedingly, beyond', 'candra': 'the Moon', 'sūrya': 'the Sun', 'śikhin': 'fire (lit. ‘crested’, i.e., flame-bearing)

• also ‘peacock’ in other contexts', 'svayaṃprabhā': 'self-luminous, shining by its own radiance', 'dīpyate': 'blazes, shines forth', 'nāka': 'heaven, celestial world', 'pṛṣṭha': 'surface, back

• hence ‘upper region’', 'nākapṛṣṭhasthā': 'standing/located on (or above) the heights of heaven', 'bhartsayantī iva': 'as if censuring/scorning, as though rebuking', 'bhāskara': 'the Sun (as ‘maker of light’)'}

Speaker

नारद उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Nārada
• the celestial assembly hall (sabhā)
• Agni (fire)
• Candra (Moon)
• Sūrya/Bhāskara (Sun)
• Nāka (heaven)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

Extraordinary brilliance and status can dazzle the mind, but the verse implicitly cautions that worldly or even celestial splendor is not the same as dharma; it can foster pride and rivalry if treated as the highest good.

What is happening in the narrative?

Nārada is describing the astonishing radiance of the (divinely fashioned) assembly hall—so luminous that it seems to outshine and ‘rebuke’ the sun—setting the tone of marvel and grandeur surrounding the royal court and its display of power.