Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 31
Rāhu, Eclipses, Antarikṣa, and the Seven Subterranean Heavens
Bila-svarga
ततोऽधस्तात्पाताले नागलोकपतयो वासुकिप्रमुखा: शङ्खकुलिकमहाशङ्खश्वेतधनञ्जयधृतराष्ट्रशङ्खचूडकम्बलाश्वतरदेवदत्तादयो महाभोगिनो महामर्षा निवसन्ति येषामु ह वै पञ्चसप्तदशशतसहस्रशीर्षाणां फणासु विरचिता महामणयो रोचिष्णव: पातालविवरतिमिरनिकरं स्वरोचिषा विधमन्ति ॥ ३१ ॥
tato ’dhastāt pātāle nāga-loka-patayo vāsuki-pramukhāḥ śaṅkha-kulika-mahāśaṅkha-śveta-dhanañjaya-dhṛtarāṣṭra-śaṅkhacūḍa-kambalāśvatara-devadattādayo mahā-bhogino mahāmarṣā nivasanti yeṣām u ha vai pañca-sapta-daśa-śata-sahasra-śīrṣāṇāṁ phaṇāsu viracitā mahā-maṇayo rociṣṇavaḥ pātāla-vivara-timira-nikaraṁ sva-rociṣā vidhamanti.
Beneath Rasātala is another planetary system, known as Pātāla or Nāgaloka, where there are many demoniac serpents, the masters of Nāgaloka, such as Śaṅkha, Kulika, Mahāśaṅkha, Śveta, Dhanañjaya, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Śaṅkhacūḍa, Kambala, Aśvatara and Devadatta. The chief among them is Vāsuki. They are all extremely angry, and they have many, many hoods — some snakes five hoods, some seven, some ten, others a hundred and others a thousand. These hoods are bedecked with valuable gems, and the light emanating from the gems illuminates the entire planetary system of bila-svarga.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Subterranean Heavenly Planets.”
FAQs
This verse says that below the preceding regions lies Pātāla, inhabited by powerful Nāga rulers led by Vāsuki, whose radiant hood-jewels illuminate and dispel the darkness of Pātāla’s caverns.
In the Fifth Canto’s cosmology, Śukadeva systematically narrates the structure of the universe (including lower realms) to broaden Parīkṣit’s understanding of the Lord’s creation and governance beyond the earthly plane.
Just as the Nāga-jewels remove Pātāla’s darkness by their own light, devotion and true knowledge illuminate the heart from within, clearing ignorance without dependence on external validation.