Shloka 48

Nāgendra–Brāhmaṇa Saṃvāda: Praśna-vidhi and Dharmic Approach on the Gomatī Riverbank

Devanagari script

सुनासिकेन कायेन भूत्वा चन्द्रप्रभस्तदा । कृत्वा हयशिर: शुभ्र॑ वेदानामालयं प्रभु:

Transliteration

vaiśaṃpāyana uvāca | sunāsikena kāyena bhūtvā candraprabhas tadā | kṛtvā hayaśiraḥ śubhraṃ vedānām ālayaṃ prabhuḥ ||

Translation

毗湿摩波耶那说：随后，凭其神圣主宰之力，至尊又化现一身，光耀如月。具足秀美之鼻的形相，他塑成马首马颈而立；其清净之口遂成为一切吠陀的居处。

Word by Word

• सु-नासिकेन: with a beautiful-nosed (body)
• सु-नासिकेन: Karana
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सु-नासिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Instrumental, Singular

• कायेन: with the body
• कायेन: Karana
• Type: Noun
• Root: काय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Instrumental, Singular

• भूत्वा: having become
• Type: Verb
• Root: भू (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• चन्द्र-प्रभः: moon-radiant, having the luster of the moon
• चन्द्र-प्रभः: Karta
• Type: Adjective
• Root: चन्द्रप्रभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

• तदा: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तदा

• कृत्वा: having made/assuming
• Type: Verb
• Root: कृ (धातु)
• Form: Absolutive (Gerund)

• हय-शिरः: a horse-head
• हय-शिरः: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: हयशिरस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• शुभ्रम्: white, pure
• शुभ्रम्: Karma
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Accusative, Singular

• वेदानाम्: of the Vedas
• Type: Noun
• Root: वेद (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive, Plural

• आलयम्: abode, repository
• आलयम्: Karma
• Type: Noun
• Root: आलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Accusative, Singular

• प्रभुः: the Lord, the mighty one
• प्रभुः: Karta
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Singular

Speaker

वैशग्पायन उवाच

Characters & Entities

• Vaiśaṃpāyana
• Prabhu (the Lord)
• Vedas
• Horse-head form (hayaśiraḥ)

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse presents sacred speech and the Vedas as something to be preserved through purity and divine guardianship: the Lord’s ‘pure mouth’ is described as the repository of the Vedas, implying that true knowledge is upheld by disciplined, sanctified expression and higher responsibility toward dharma.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vaiśaṃpāyana narrates that a powerful Lord assumes a moon-bright body and adopts a horse-headed form; in that manifestation, his pure mouth is said to contain or house the entirety of the Vedas, highlighting a miraculous embodiment of Vedic knowledge.