Shloka 10
ध्रुवस्य तपः — देवमायाविघ्नाः, विष्णोर्दर्शनम्, स्तुतिः, ध्रुवस्थानप्रदानम्
पादाङ्गुष्ठेन संपीड्य यदा स वसुधां स्थितः तदा सा वसुधा विप्र चचाल सह पर्वतैः
pādāṅguṣṭhena saṃpīḍya yadā sa vasudhāṃ sthitaḥ tadā sā vasudhā vipra cacāla saha parvataiḥ
O brāhmaṇa, when He stood upon the Earth and pressed it down with the great toe of His foot, the ground—together with its mountains—began to tremble and move.
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Earth’s trembling with mountains due to the Lord’s toe pressing—signs of overwhelming divine power.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas (worlds)
Concept: A mere touch of the Lord’s ‘toe’ can move the earth—indicating immeasurable aiśvarya and the fragility of worldly stability without Him.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: When life ‘shakes,’ remember dependence on the divine; respond with steadiness, prayer, and dharmic action rather than panic.
Vishishtadvaita: Reinforces the Lord’s mastery over prakṛti (acit) while remaining intimately related to it—power without separation from the world He sustains.
Vishnu Form: Hari
Lakshmi Presence: Bhumi
FAQs
It signifies overwhelming cosmic authority—so great that even the Earth and its mountains respond physically—highlighting the Purāṇic theme of universal order upheld by supreme power.
By describing a mere toe-press causing the whole Earth to shake, Parāśara uses concrete, sensory imagery to communicate superhuman, world-governing potency within the cosmos.
Even when not named explicitly in the verse, the narrative style of the Vishnu Purana frames such world-shaking potency as belonging to the supreme reality that sustains and governs creation—central to Vaiṣṇava cosmology.