Shloka 20

Devanagari script

वृतं नैकात्मकं येन कृतं त्रैलोक्यमात्मना । तथैव बहुरूपत्वाद्‌ विश्वरूप इति स्मृत:,अनेक नाम और रुपोंसे युक्त इन हिरण्यगर्भ ब्रह्माका सांख्यशास्त्रमें भी वर्णन आता है। ये विचित्र रूपधारी, विश्वात्मा और एकाक्षर कहे गये हैं। इस अनेक रूपोंवाली त्रिलोकीकी रचना उन्होंने ही की है और स्वयं ही इसे व्याप्त कर रक्खा है। इस प्रकार बहुत-से रूप धारण करनेके कारण वे विश्वरूप माने गये हैं

Transliteration

vṛtaṃ naikātmakaṃ yena kṛtaṃ trailokyam ātmanā | tathaiva bahurūpatvād viśvarūpa iti smṛtaḥ ||

Translation

Vasiṣṭha sprach: „Der, durch dessen eigenes Selbst die drei Welten gestaltet wurden, ist nicht auf eine einzige Gestalt beschränkt. Weil er in vielen Formen erscheint, gedenkt man seiner als ‚Viśvarūpa‘, dem All-Gestaltigen. So wird der Kosmos von jener einen Wirklichkeit zugleich hervorgebracht und durchdrungen—sie erscheint mannigfaltig, ohne ihre innere Einheit zu verlieren.“

Word by Word

वृतम्pervaded/covered

नnot

एकात्मकम्of single nature/one-formed

येनby whom/with which

कृतम्made/created

त्रैलोक्यम्the three worlds

आत्मनाby (his) self; by himself

तथाthus; in the same way

एवindeed; just

बहुरूपत्वात्because of manifoldness/many forms

विश्व-रूपःthe all-formed one; Vishvarupa

इतिthus (quotative)

स्मृतःis remembered/called

Speaker

वसिष्ठ उवाच

Characters & Entities

Vasiṣṭha

Trailokya (the three worlds)

Viśvarūpa (the All-Form / cosmic form)

Character Dynamics

Dharma Sankata (Moral Dilemma)

Verse Rasa (Emotional Essence)

Philosophical Teaching

Political Layer

Meter (Chandas)

Sandhi Notes

Educational Q&A

What is the core teaching?

The verse teaches that the ultimate principle that creates the three worlds is not limited to a single form; it manifests as many forms while remaining one. This supports an ethical vision of unity: seeing multiplicity as expressions of one reality reduces ego-driven division and encourages reverence toward all beings.

What is happening in the narrative?

Vasiṣṭha is instructing his listener in a philosophical discourse within Śānti Parva, explaining the cosmic creator-pervader as ‘Viśvarūpa’—so called because the one reality appears in countless forms and yet underlies and pervades the entire three-world cosmos.