Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 7
Dhruva-loka as the Cosmic Pivot and the Śiśumāra-cakra
Viṣṇu’s Astral Form
उत्तराहनावगस्तिरधराहनौ यमो मुखेषु चाङ्गारक: शनैश्चर उपस्थे बृहस्पति: ककुदि वक्षस्यादित्यो हृदये नारायणो मनसि चन्द्रो नाभ्यामुशना स्तनयोरश्विनौ बुध: प्राणापानयो राहुर्गले केतव: सर्वाङ्गेषु रोमसु सर्वे तारागणा: ॥ ७ ॥
uttarā-hanāv agastir adharā-hanau yamo mukheṣu cāṅgārakaḥ śanaiścara upasthe bṛhaspatiḥ kakudi vakṣasy ādityo hṛdaye nārāyaṇo manasi candro nābhyām uśanā stanayor aśvinau budhaḥ prāṇāpānayo rāhur gale ketavaḥ sarvāṅgeṣu romasu sarve tārā-gaṇāḥ.
On the upper jaw of the śiśumāra is Agasti; on the lower jaw, Yamarāja; and on its mouth, Mars. On its genitals is Saturn; on the back of its neck (kakuda) is Jupiter; on its chest is the sun; and in the very core of its heart dwells Nārāyaṇa. In its mind is the moon; on its navel, Venus; on its breasts, the Aśvinī-kumāras; and within its life air, prāṇa-apāna, is Mercury. On its throat is Rāhu; all over its body are Ketu-comets; and in its pores are the countless hosts of stars.
FAQs
This verse maps the grahas, stars, and divine beings onto the limbs of the Virāṭ-puruṣa, showing the cosmos as an ordered manifestation within the Lord’s universal form, with Nārāyaṇa placed centrally in the heart.
The placement signifies that although planets and cosmic forces appear prominent, the indwelling Lord is the true center and sustaining reality of the universe, just as the heart sustains the body.
By seeing the world as pervaded and governed by the Supreme, one cultivates reverence, reduces anxiety about material forces, and strengthens bhakti through remembrance that the Lord is the inner controller of all arrangements.