Shloka 1
Matsya Purana — Nārāyaṇa as Haṃsa in the Cosmic Ocean: Vedic Yajña-Puruṣa and Mārkaṇḍeya’s Vi...
*मत्स्य उवाच एवमेकार्णवीभूते शेते लोकेमहाद्युतिः प्रच्छाद्य सलिलेनोर्वीं हंसो नारायणस्तदा //
*matsya uvāca evamekārṇavībhūte śete lokemahādyutiḥ pracchādya salilenorvīṃ haṃso nārāyaṇastadā //
Matsya said: Thus, when the world had become a single ocean, the greatly radiant Lord Nārāyaṇa—manifest as the Haṃsa—reposed, having covered the earth with waters.
FAQs
It depicts the pralaya condition where the world becomes a single ocean (ekārṇava), with the earth submerged under waters—an image of cosmic dissolution preceding renewed creation.
Direct duties are not stated here; however, the verse frames dharma within cosmic cycles—reminding kings and householders that worldly order is transient and should be governed with humility, restraint, and devotion to Nārāyaṇa.
No explicit Vāstu or ritual procedure is given in this verse; its significance is theological and cosmological, establishing Nārāyaṇa’s transcendent presence (Haṃsa) as the ground of sacred order that later informs ritual and temple symbolism.