Shloka 9

Matsya Purana — Questions on Padmanabha’s Lotus-Creation in the Padma Mahakalpa; Prelude to N...

Devanagari script

के प्रजापतयस्तावद् आसन्पूर्वं महामुने कथं निर्मितवांश्चैव चित्रं लोकं सनातनम् //

Transliteration

ke prajāpatayastāvad āsanpūrvaṃ mahāmune kathaṃ nirmitavāṃścaiva citraṃ lokaṃ sanātanam //

Translation

“Which Prajāpatis existed in the beginning, O great sage? And how indeed was this wondrous, eternal world fashioned?”

Word by Word

• के (ke): which/who

• प्रजापतयः (prajāpatayaḥ): Prajāpatis, progenitor-lords

• तावत् (tāvat): then/at that earlier stage/so far

• आसन् (āsan): were/existed

• पूर्वम् (pūrvam): formerly, in the beginning

• महामुने (mahāmune): O great sage

• कथम् (katham): how

• निर्मितवान् (nirmitavān): fashioned/constructed/created

• च एव (ca eva): and indeed

• चित्रम् (citram): wondrous, variegated, marvelous

• लोकम् (lokam): world, cosmos

• सनातनम् (sanātanam): eternal, primeval, perennial

Speaker

• Vaivasvata Manu (questioning), addressing Lord Matsya as ‘Mahāmune’ in a reverential mode

Entities Mentioned

• Prajāpatis
• Loka (Cosmos)

Tags

• Creation
• Prajapati
• Cosmology
• Genealogy
• Sarga

FAQs

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

This verse is an inquiry into creation (sarga): it asks about the earliest progenitors (Prajāpatis) and the manner in which the eternal, wondrous cosmos was formed; it does not itself describe pralaya, but sets up the cosmological account that typically frames cycles of creation and dissolution.

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

By seeking the origins of progenitors and cosmic order, the question aligns with Purāṇic statecraft and household ethics: right governance and right living are grounded in understanding dharma as rooted in the structure of creation and the lineage of beings entrusted with propagation and order.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

No direct Vāstu or ritual rule appears in this verse; however, the emphasis on “nirmitavān” (fashioning) and the ordered “loka” provides the cosmological backdrop often used in the Matsya Purāṇa to justify ritual construction as an imitation of divine ordering.