Shloka 24

Matsya Purana — Description of Gomedaka and Puṣkara Dvīpas; the Lokāloka Boundary; Ocean Tide...

Devanagari script

त्रयीविद्या दण्डनीतिः शुश्रूषा दण्ड एव च न तत्र वर्षं नद्यो वा शीतोष्णं च न विद्यते //

Transliteration

trayīvidyā daṇḍanītiḥ śuśrūṣā daṇḍa eva ca na tatra varṣaṃ nadyo vā śītoṣṇaṃ ca na vidyate //

Translation

There, the threefold sacred knowledge of the Vedas, the science of governance and punishment (daṇḍanīti), service and obedience (śuśrūṣā), and even punishment itself are absent; there is neither rainfall nor rivers, and neither cold nor heat exists.

Word by Word

• त्रयीविद्या (trayī-vidyā): the threefold Vedic knowledge/three Vedas

• दण्डनीतिः (daṇḍa-nītiḥ): polity, statecraft, the doctrine of punishment

• शुश्रूषा (śuśrūṣā): service, attendance, obedient listening

• दण्डः (daṇḍaḥ): punishment, coercive authority

• एव (eva): indeed/also

• च (ca): and

• न (na): not

• तत्र (tatra): there/in that realm

• वर्षम् (varṣam): rain/rainfall

• नद्यः (nadyaḥ): rivers

• वा (vā): or

• शीतोष्णम् (śītoṣṇam): cold and heat (seasonal extremes)

• विद्यते (vidyate): exists/is found.

Speaker

• Suta (narrating the Matsya Purana’s discourse; the verse describes a realm as part of the ongoing narration)

Tags

• Cosmology
• Otherworldly realms
• Dharma
• Kingship (Daṇḍanīti)
• Metaphysics

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It depicts a non-terrestrial, non-seasonal realm where climatic cycles (rain, rivers, cold/heat) do not operate—suggesting a plane beyond ordinary cosmic processes rather than a direct description of Pralaya itself.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

By stating that daṇḍanīti (governance through law and punishment) and even daṇḍa (coercion) are absent there, the verse implies these institutions belong to conditioned worldly society; kings and householders require them for order here, but they are irrelevant in a perfected or transcendent domain.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No direct Vastu or ritual procedure is taught in this line; its takeaway is conceptual—contrasting worldly systems (Vedic study, polity, discipline) with a realm beyond material conditions, which can frame why rituals and social duties are context-bound.