Shloka 6
दक्षिणा-दिक्, पितृपक्ष-प्रतिष्ठा, तथा कर्मगतिः — Suparṇa’s Cosmographic Instruction
विप्रवर! जिस दिशामें सम्पूर्ण जगत्को उत्पन्न एवं प्रभावित करनेवाले भगवान् सूर्य प्रथम उदित होते हैं
yūparṇa uvāca | vipravara! yasyāṃ diśi sampūrṇaṃ jagad utpādya prabhāvayati bhagavān sūryaḥ prathamaṃ udeti, yasyāṃ diśi sandhyāsamaye sādhyagaṇās tapasyanti, yasyāṃ diśi (gāyatrījapena) pūrvam sā buddhir labdhā yā sarvaṃ jagad vyāptavatī, dharmasya yugal-netrasvarūpau candrasūryau prathamaṃ yasyāṃ diśy udetas, yasyāṃ ca prāyaḥ pūrvābhimukhena dharmānuṣṭhānāt dharmaḥ pratiṣṭhitaḥ, yasyāṃ diśi pavitrahaviṣā hutam āhutiḥ sarvāsu dikṣu prasṛtā bhavati, sā eṣā pūrvā diśā divasas sūryamārgasya ca dvāram || atra pūrvā prasūtā vai dākṣāyaṇyaḥ prajāḥ striyaḥ | yasyāṃ diśi pravṛddhāś ca kaśyapasyātmasaṃbhavāḥ ||
Yūparṇa said: “O best of Brahmins, that direction in which the blessed Sun first rises—bringing forth and quickening the whole world; that direction in which, at twilight, the Sādhyas practice austerity; that direction in which the all-pervading insight was first attained through the recitation of the Gāyatrī; that direction in which the Moon and the Sun, the twin eyes of Dharma, first appear; and that direction where Dharma became firmly established because rites are commonly performed facing east—indeed, that is the eastern quarter, the gateway of day and of the Sun’s path. In that very eastern region, the daughters of Dakṣa first brought forth the classes of creatures, and there the self-born offspring of Kaśyapa attained increase.”
युपर्ण उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse sacralizes the eastern direction as the ‘gateway of day’ and the Sun’s path, grounding this in ritual practice (east-facing rites, havis offerings), ethical symbolism (Sun and Moon as Dharma’s eyes), and cosmological genealogy (Dakṣa’s daughters and Kaśyapa’s progeny). It teaches that orientation and disciplined practice align human conduct with cosmic order (dharma).
Yūparṇa addresses a Brahmin and explains why the east is preeminent: the Sun rises there, celestial beings perform austerities at twilight, spiritual insight is associated with Gāyatrī recitation, and ritual offerings are conceived as spreading to all directions. He then adds a mythic-historical justification by linking the east with primordial creation through Dakṣa’s daughters and the flourishing of Kaśyapa’s descendants.