Shloka 3
Atithi’s Direction to the Nāga-sage Padma at Naimiṣa (अतिथ्युपदेशः—नैमिषे पद्मनागोपाख्यानप्रस्तावः)
सम्प्रक्षालनकाले>तिक्रान्ते चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते अव्यक्ते सर्वभूते प्रलये सर्वभूतस्था वरजडूमे ज्योतिर्धरणिवायुरहिते5न्धे तमसि जलैकार्णवे लोके
arjuna uvāca | samprakṣālana-kāle 'tikrānte caturyuga-sahasrānte 'vyakte sarva-bhūte pralaye sarva-bhūta-sthāvare jaṅgame jyotir-dharaṇi-vāyu-rahite 'ndhe tamasi jalaikārṇave loke |
Arjuna sprach: „Als die Zeit der kosmischen Auflösung gekommen war — nach dem Ablauf von tausend Zyklen der vier Weltzeitalter — war alles Seiende in das Unmanifestierte eingegangen. Alle Wesen, unbewegliche wie bewegliche, waren aufgelöst. Erde, Licht (Feuer) und Wind waren nirgends mehr zu finden. Dichte Finsternis breitete sich überall aus, und die ganze Welt lag versunken im einen, alles umfassenden Ozean der Wasser.“
अजुन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse underscores impermanence at a cosmic scale: all manifested forms—beings and even the elements—withdraw into the Unmanifest during pralaya. It frames ethical reflection by reminding the listener that worldly power and possessions are transient, while deeper principles (dharma and knowledge of reality) endure in significance.
Arjuna describes the onset of pralaya after an immense cosmic period (a thousand caturyugas). All creatures dissolve into the Unmanifest; the elemental supports of ordinary life (earth, fire/light, wind) are absent; darkness prevails; and the world is submerged in a single boundless ocean.