Shloka 8
एकान्तिधर्म-प्रश्नः (Inquiry into Ekāntin Dharma) / The Origin and Practice of Single-Pointed Nārāyaṇa-Centered Discipline
क्षीरोदधेर्योत्तरतो हि द्वीप: श्वेत: स नाम्ना प्रथितो विशाल:
kṣīrodadher uttarato hi dvīpaḥ śvetaḥ sa nāmnā prathito viśālaḥ |
Nārada said: “To the north of the Ocean of Milk there lies a vast island, renowned by the name Śveta. It came into view before them. The learned describe that island as rising thirty-two thousand yojanas above Mount Meru. Its inhabitants are said to be free from the operations of the senses, without need of food, without outward activity, and yet endowed with true knowledge; from their bodies there continually issues a noble fragrance.”
नारद उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage elevates the ideal of inner realization over sensory life: the highest beings are portrayed as beyond sense-impulses, beyond dependence on food, and beyond restless activity, yet rich in knowledge and purity—symbolized by their natural fragrance.
Nārada describes a wondrous northern realm beyond the Ocean of Milk: the vast Śvetadvīpa, its extraordinary height relative to Meru, and the distinctive nature of its inhabitants—sense-transcending, self-sustained, motionless outwardly, and established in knowledge.