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Shloka 36

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

काष्ठां गतो दक्षिणतः क्षिप्तेषुरिव सर्पति / ज्योतिषां चक्रमादाय देवदेवः प्रजापतिः

kāṣṭhāṃ gato dakṣiṇataḥ kṣipteṣuriva sarpati / jyotiṣāṃ cakramādāya devadevaḥ prajāpatiḥ

Hat er den südlichen Bezirk erreicht, gleitet er weiter—wie ein abgeschossener Pfeil, der rasch dahinfährt—und trägt das kreisende Rad der Gestirne; so führt Prajāpati, der Herr der Götter, den himmlischen Umlauf fort.

काष्ठाम्a direction/quarter
काष्ठाम्:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootकाष्ठा (प्रातिपदिक)
Formस्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन; दिक्/दिशा-वाचक (a quarter/direction)
गतःhaving gone
गतः:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeVerb
Rootगम् (धातु)
Formक्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; कर्तरि प्रयोगे 'having gone'
दक्षिणतःsouthwards/on the right
दक्षिणतः:
Adverbial (क्रियाविशेषण)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootदक्षिण (प्रातिपदिक)
Formतसिल्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय; 'from/on the south side'
क्षिप्तेषुःa shot arrow
क्षिप्तेषुः:
Upamana (उपमान)
TypeNoun
Rootक्षिप्त-इषु (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी/कर्मधारय-समाससदृशः (क्षिप्तः इषुः = 'a shot arrow')
इवlike/as
इव:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/उपमा)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootइव (अव्यय)
Formअव्यय; उपमा-वाचक (comparative particle)
सर्पतिmoves/creeps
सर्पति:
Kriya (क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootसृप् (धातु)
Formलट्-लकार (present), प्रथम-पुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद
ज्योतिषाम्of the luminaries
ज्योतिषाम्:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
TypeNoun
Rootज्योतिस् (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, बहुवचन
चक्रम्wheel/disc
चक्रम्:
Karma (कर्म)
TypeNoun
Rootचक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
Formनपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया-विभक्ति, एकवचन
आदायhaving taken
आदाय:
Purvakala (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
TypeVerb
Rootदा (धातु) + आ- (उपसर्ग)
Formल्यप्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), 'having taken'
देवदेवःthe god of gods
देवदेवः:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootदेव-देव (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (देवानां देवः)
प्रजापतिःPrajāpati
प्रजापतिः:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootप्रजापति (प्रातिपदिक)
Formपुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विशेष्य (apposition to देवदेवः)

Sūta (narrator) describing the cosmic order (kāla-gati) in Purāṇic cosmology

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: vira

P
Prajāpati
J
Jyotiṣa (luminaries)

FAQs

Indirectly: by portraying an ordered cosmic movement governed by Prajāpati, the verse points to an intelligible, law-like universe—classically read in the Kurma tradition as reflecting a higher regulating principle (Īśvara) that the Self realizes through discernment.

No specific technique is prescribed in this line; its yogic implication is contemplative—meditating on kāla (time) and jyotiṣa (celestial order) as supports for steadiness (dhāraṇā) and for aligning one’s life with dharma, a recurring Kurma Purana theme alongside Pāśupata-oriented discipline.

It does so implicitly through synthesis: the cosmic governance (Prajāpati bearing the wheel of luminaries) is a theistic function that the Kurma Purana often presents as compatible across sectarian names—Śiva and Viṣṇu are treated as convergent expressions of the same supreme order sustaining the cosmos.