Shloka 5
मैत्रेयप्रश्नः—पुराणसंहिताप्रतिज्ञा च
Maitreya’s Questions and Parāśara’s Resolve to Teach
यन्मयं च जगद् ब्रह्मन् यतश् चैतच् चराचरम् लीनम् आसीद् यथा यत्र लयम् एष्यति यत्र च
yanmayaṃ ca jagad brahman yataś caitac carācaram līnam āsīd yathā yatra layam eṣyati yatra ca
O Brahman, that Reality of which the entire universe is constituted, by which this whole moving and unmoving creation exists; into which it was once dissolved—how and where—and likewise where and how it will again enter dissolution: declare all of that.
Maitreya (questioning Sage Parāśara)
Speaker: Maitreya
Topic: Seeks the ontological ground of the world: that of which it is made, by which it exists, and into which it dissolves—asking where and how dissolution occurs
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Kalpa
Cosmic Hierarchy: Brahmanda (universe)
Concept: The universe is constituted of, sustained by, and finally reabsorbed into a single supreme Reality—the material and efficient cause—whose modes include the moving and unmoving world.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: Contemplate the source and end of experiences to cultivate detachment and devotion; see all beings as dependent modes of the Supreme.
Vishishtadvaita: Strongly supports satkārya-like causality and Brahman-as-substance: the jagat is ‘of that’ (yanmayaṃ), aligning with Viśiṣṭādvaita’s view of the world as real, Brahman’s body (śarīra) and supported by Him.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It signals totality: all life and matter—mobile beings and immobile existence—are included in the single cosmic order whose source and dissolution Maitreya asks to be explained.
Maitreya frames the teaching by asking for the material cause (what the world is made of), the efficient cause (from whom it arises), and the mechanics and locus of dissolution (laya/pralaya), which Parāśara will answer by grounding cosmology in the Supreme Principle identified with Vishnu.
The verse treats the Supreme as the universe’s basis, source, and final resting-place—supporting a Vaishnava reading where Vishnu is the transcendent yet immanent Lord into whom creation is periodically reabsorbed.