Shloka 1
Adhyaya 61 — The Second Manvantara Begins: The Brahmin’s Swift Journey and Varuthini’s Temptation on Himavat
कrauष्टुकिरुवाच
कथितं भवता सम्यग् यत् पृष्टोऽसि महामुने ।
भूसमुद्रादिसंस्थानं प्रमाणानि तथा ग्रहाः ॥
krauṣṭukir uvāca
kathitaṃ bhavatā samyag yat pṛṣṭo 'si mahāmune |
bhū-samudrādi-saṃsthānaṃ pramāṇāni tathā grahāḥ ||
Krauṣṭuki said: O great sage, you have properly described what you were asked—namely the arrangement of the earth, the oceans and the rest, their measurements, and also the planets.
FAQs
The verse models śāstric learning: first establish the cosmic setting (space, measures, luminaries), then proceed to time-cycles (manvantaras). Right order of inquiry is itself a discipline.
It bridges 'Sthāna' (cosmic arrangement) to 'Manvantara' (time-periods ruled by Manus), signaling a shift in Purāṇic scope.
Outer cosmography functions as a scaffold: understanding ordered cosmos prepares the mind to grasp ordered time (cycles), implying a correspondence between spatial and temporal dharma.