Shloka 43

सूर्यरथ-कालचक्र-आयनविभागः, संध्योपासनम्, देवयान-पितृयानम्, विष्णुपद-गङ्गावतरणम्

Devanagari script

एकप्रमाणम् एवैष मार्गं याति दिवाकरः अहोरात्रेण यो भुङ्क्ते समस्ता राशयो द्विज

Transliteration

ekapramāṇam evaiṣa mārgaṃ yāti divākaraḥ ahorātreṇa yo bhuṅkte samastā rāśayo dvija

Translation

الشمسُ حاملةُ النهار تسير في طريق واحد ذي مقدارٍ معلوم. أيها الثنائيّ الميلاد، في يومٍ وليلةٍ واحدة تجتاز—كأنها «تلتهم»—جميع بروج الفلك على الترتيب.

Word by Word

एकप्रमाणम्a uniform measure (of length)

एवindeed/only

एषःthis (one)

मार्गम्path

यातिgoes/traverses

दिवाकरःthe Sun (day-maker)

अहोरात्रेणby a day-and-night (in one nychthemeron)

यःwho

भुङ्क्तेenjoys/consumes (passes through)

समस्ताःall/entire

राशयःzodiacal signs/constellations

द्विजO twice-born (brahmin)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Characters & Entities

Surya (Divakara)

Zodiac signs (Rāśis)

Time (Ahorātra)

FAQs

What is the significance of the Sun’s ‘single measured path’ in the Vishnu Purana?

It highlights a fixed cosmic order: the Sun’s regular motion becomes the dependable standard by which time (day-night and larger cycles) is recognized and maintained.

How does Sage Parāśara explain timekeeping through celestial motion here?

By linking ahorātra (a full day-night) to the Sun’s traversal of the rāśis, Parāśara frames time as an observable rhythm rooted in the heavens’ regulated movement.

What is the theological importance of Vishnu in this cosmological context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic worldview treats such orderly celestial functioning as operating under the Supreme Reality’s governance—Vishnu as the sustaining principle of universal law.