Shloka 15

Measure of the Three Worlds, Planetary Spheres, and Sūrya as the Root of Trailokya

Devanagari script

अद्धृत्य पृथिवीच्छायां निर्मितो मण्डलाकृतिः / स्वर्भानोस्तु वृहत् स्थानं तृतीयं यत् तमोमयम्

Transliteration

addhṛtya pṛthivīcchāyāṃ nirmito maṇḍalākṛtiḥ / svarbhānostu vṛhat sthānaṃ tṛtīyaṃ yat tamomayam

Translation

Auf dem Schatten der Erde ruhend entsteht eine kreisförmige Gestalt. Und es gibt eine weite, dritte Stätte, die Svarbhānu (Rāhu) gehört, von der Natur der Finsternis.

Word by Word

• आद्धृत्य: having supported
• आद्धृत्य: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā-√dhṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive), उपसर्ग: आ-; ‘having supported/held’

• पृथिवी-छायायाम्: in the earth’s shadow
• पृथिवी-छायायाम्: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthivī (प्रातिपदिक) + chāyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative/7th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: पृथिव्याः छाया = ‘earth’s shadow’

• निर्मितः: was formed/made
• निर्मितः: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (कर्तृसमनाधिकरण; predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir-√mā (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (Past Passive Participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom/1st), एकवचन; ‘made/formed’

• मण्डल-आकृतिः: a circular form
• मण्डल-आकृतिः: Karta (कर्ता; subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maṇḍala (प्रातिपदिक) + ākṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom/1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: मण्डलस्य आकृतिः = ‘circular form’

• स्वर्भानोः: of Svarbhānu
• स्वर्भानोः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध; genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarbhānu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Gen/6th), एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्धबोधक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/विशेषार्थक निपात (adversative/emphatic particle)

• वृहत्: great/large
• वृहत्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bṛhat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom/Acc), एकवचन; विशेषणम् ‘great/large’

• स्थानम्: place/region
• स्थानम्: Karta (कर्ता; subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sthāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom/1st), एकवचन

• तृतीयम्: third
• तृतीयम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tṛtīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्रमवाचक विशेषण (ordinal)

• यत्: which
• यत्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण; relative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• तमोमयम्: made of darkness
• तमोमयम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tamas (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तृतीया-तत्पुरुष/उपपद: तमसा मयम् = ‘consisting of darkness’

Speaker

Sūta (narrator) recounting Purāṇic cosmography within the Kurma Purana’s discourse

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Pṛthivī (Earth)
• Chāyā (Earth’s shadow)
• Svarbhānu (Rāhu)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

Indirectly: by describing a “tamomaya” (darkness-made) region linked with eclipse-causing forces, it contrasts the conditioned, tamasic domain of cosmic phenomena with the Atman taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana as self-luminous (svayaṃ-prakāśa) and untouched by shadow or obscuration.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

No specific practice is prescribed in this verse; however, its emphasis on tamas (darkness/obscuration) aligns with Kurma Purana’s Yoga-śāstra orientation: the sādhaka is to overcome tamasic veiling through discipline (yama–niyama), clarity (sattva-śuddhi), and steady contemplation so that awareness is not “eclipsed” by guṇa-driven delusion.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

The verse is cosmographic rather than sectarian; in the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such cosmic mechanisms (shadow, darkness, eclipse forces) are treated as functions within Īśvara’s ordered creation—harmonizing devotion to both Hari (Vishnu/Kurma) and Hara (Shiva) as the one sovereign reality governing the cosmos.