Shloka 253
Nāga-āyatana-darśana-pratīkṣā — The Brāhmaṇa’s Request and Waiting on the Gomatī
नरनारायणो द्रष्टूं कि तु तत् कारणं मुने । मुने! नारदजीने उस समय प्रैतद्वीपमें जाकर जो अनिरुद्ध-विग्रहमें स्थित नारायणदेवका साक्षात्कार किया तथा पुनः नर-नारायणका दर्शन करनेके लिये जो बदरिकाश्रमको प्रस्थान किया
Janamejaya uvāca: nara-nārāyaṇo draṣṭuṁ kiṁ tu tat-kāraṇaṁ mune? mune! nāradajīnaḥ tasmin samaye praitadvīpe gatvā yaḥ aniruddha-vigrahe sthitaṁ nārāyaṇadevaṁ sākṣātkṛtavān, tathā punaḥ nara-nārāyaṇayoḥ darśanaṁ kartum badarikāśramaṁ prati yaḥ prasthitaḥ—etasya kiṁ kāraṇam?
阇那美阇耶说道：“仙人啊，他为何要寻求亲见（darśana）那罗—那罗延（Nara-Nārāyaṇa）？当时那罗陀前往普赖塔洲（Praitadvīpa），亲睹住于阿尼卢陀（Aniruddha）形相中的那罗延主；随后又启程回到婆陀梨迦住处，为求再见那罗与那罗延。此一连串举动，缘由何在？”
जनमेजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse foregrounds the dharmic value of inquiry into sacred experience: even after a direct vision of Nārāyaṇa, the seeker (Nārada) pursues further darśana of Nara-Nārāyaṇa, implying that spiritual understanding deepens through continued seeking, pilgrimage, and reverent questioning rather than complacency after a single encounter.
King Janamejaya asks the narrator-sage to explain why Nārada first went to Praitadvīpa to behold Lord Nārāyaṇa in the Aniruddha form, and then departed for Badarikāśrama to see Nara and Nārāyaṇa—seeking the motive and narrative logic behind these successive journeys and visions.