Shloka 17

वासुदेवस्वरूपनिरूपणं—सर्गक्रमश्च

Vāsudeva’s Nature and the Ordered Process of Creation

Devanagari script

प्रधानपुरुषव्यक्तकालास् तु प्रविभागशः रूपाणि स्थितिसर्गान्तव्यक्तिसद्भावहेतवः

Transliteration

pradhānapuruṣavyaktakālās tu pravibhāgaśaḥ rūpāṇi sthitisargāntavyaktisadbhāvahetavaḥ

Translation

Pradhāna, Puruṣa, the manifest world, and Kāla—distinguished by their respective functions—are operative principles that become the causes of preservation, creation, dissolution, the unmanifest state, and the very possibility of existence.

Word by Word

• प्रधानपुरुषव्यक्तकालाः: Pradhāna, Puruṣa, the Manifest, and Time (as categories)
• प्रधानपुरुषव्यक्तकालाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: प्रधान (प्रातिपदिक) + पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक) + व्यक्त (प्रातिपदिक) + काल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः (1st/Nominative), बहुवचनम्; समाहार/इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व-समासः

• तु: but; however
• तु: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; निपातः (contrastive particle)

• प्रविभागशः: by (their) distinct division; separately
• प्रविभागशः: Manner (प्रकार)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: प्र + विभाग (प्रातिपदिक) + शस् (अव्यय-प्रत्यय)
• Form: अव्ययम्; क्रियाविशेषणम् (adverb) — ‘विभागेन/विभागतः’

• रूपाणि: forms
• रूपाणि: Karta/Predicate (कर्ता/विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे, प्रथमा/द्वितीया-विभक्तिः (1st/2nd Nom/Acc), बहुवचनम्

• स्थितिसर्गान्तव्यक्तिसद्भावहेतवः: causes of maintenance, creation, dissolution, manifestation, and existence
• स्थितिसर्गान्तव्यक्तिसद्भावहेतवः: Predicate nominative (विधेय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थिति (प्रातिपदिक) + सर्ग (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्त (प्रातिपदिक) + व्यक्ति (प्रातिपदिक) + सद्भाव (प्रातिपदिक) + हेतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे, प्रथमा-विभक्तिः (1st/Nominative), बहुवचनम्; बहुपद-तत्पुरुषः (हेतवः = कारणानि)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: How do pradhāna, puruṣa, vyakta, and kāla function as causes for sṛṣṭi-sthiti-pralaya and manifestation/unmanifestation?

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Primary

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Distinct functional principles—pradhāna, puruṣa, the manifest, and time—operate as causal bases for creation, maintenance, dissolution, and the alternation of manifest/unmanifest existence.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Use this causal map to observe change without confusion: distinguish the field (prakṛti), the knower (puruṣa), the changing world (vyakta), and the pressure of time (kāla) in daily experience.

Vishishtadvaita: While tattvas are functionally distinguished, their ultimate dependence is on Vishnu as inner ruler and ground of their efficacy.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Antaryamin: Yes

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Purusha
• Kala

FAQs

What is the significance of pradhāna, puruṣa, vyakta, and kāla in the Vishnu Purana?

They are the core metaphysical categories used to explain how the universe appears, persists, dissolves, and returns to an unmanifest condition—mapping cosmic change to distinct causal principles.

How does Sage Parāśara explain creation, preservation, and dissolution here?

By classifying reality into primal Nature (pradhāna), Consciousness (puruṣa), manifestation (vyakta), and time (kāla), he frames these as the causes behind sarga (creation), sthiti (maintenance), and anta (dissolution), along with the transition to avyakta (unmanifest).

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Although Vishnu is not named in this verse, the teaching serves Vaishnava cosmology by grounding cosmic processes in an ordered metaphysics that, in the broader Vishnu Purana, is ultimately governed and pervaded by Vishnu as the supreme reality.