Narada Purana — Purva Bhaga, Shloka 83
Jyotiṣa-śāstra Saṅgraha: Threefold Division, Gaṇita Methods, Muhūrta, and Planetary Reckoning
विलोमगतयः पातास्तद्वञ्चक्राष्विशोधिताः । योजनानि शतान्यष्टौ भूकर्णौ द्विगुणाः स्मृतः ॥ ८३ ॥
vilomagatayaḥ pātāstadvañcakrāṣviśodhitāḥ | yojanāni śatānyaṣṭau bhūkarṇau dviguṇāḥ smṛtaḥ || 83 ||
The regions of Pātāla are said to have contrary (reverse) courses; and there the deceptive wheels (cycles) are not purified, remaining confounding. The “ears of the earth” are remembered as measuring eight hundred yojanas, and the next measure is declared to be double of that.
Sanatkumara (in dialogue with Narada)
Vrata: none
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
FAQs
It frames the nether realms (Pātālas) as zones of inversion and confusion—symbolically contrasting with clarity that supports mokṣa—while also preserving the Purāṇic tradition of sacred cosmographical measures.
Indirectly: by depicting realms marked by deception and reversed movement, it implies that steadiness of mind and right orientation—best stabilized through Viṣṇu-bhakti and dharma—protects one from भ्रम (delusion).
It reflects technical Purāṇic cosmography and traditional metrology (yojana-based measurement), aligning with the broader ‘Vedic sciences’ approach to mapping worlds and distances used in ritual and calendrical imagination.