अभिप्रायं तु विज्ञाय देवतानां पितामह:। विरोधं जनयामास तयो स्सत्यवतां वर:।
Meaning
'Sensing what the gods truly wanted, Brahma, foremost among the truthful, himself stirred up a contest between the two.'
Word-by-word (pada-artha)
| Word | Devanagari | Meaning | Grammatical role |
|---|---|---|---|
| abhiprāyam tu vijñāya | अभिप्रायम् तु विज्ञाय | but having understood the intention | Accusative / Adverbial / Gerund |
| devatānām pitāmahaḥ | देवतानाम् पितामहः | of the deities, the grandfather | Genitive plural / Nominative |
| virodham janayāmāsa | विरोधम् जनयामास | brought about a conflict | Accusative / Verb (periphrastic perfect) |
| tayoḥ satyavatām varaḥ | तयोः सत्यवताम् वरः | between those two, best of the truthful | Genitive dual / Genitive plural / Nominative |
Scholar commentary
valmikiramayan.net Prose Commentary
Desiraju Hanumanta Rao's prose rendering with embedded explanatory notes
The source dramatizes how Brahma provoked the rivalry between Shiva and Vishnu: rather than simply answering the gods' question about which deity is greater, Brahma told each god privately that the other had claimed sole credit for destroying the demon Tripura, needling both into anger and setting up their contest, since Brahma as the guardian of truth could not adjudicate the matter on mere hearsay.
1 of 16 traditions have commentary on this shloka. Traditions without a verse-specific commentary here are omitted rather than filled in.
Reference: 1.75.15 · Bāla Kāṇḍa