Shloka 68
Cosmic Appointments, Viṣṇu’s Vibhūtis, Fourfold Operation, and the Symbolism of Ornaments and Weapons
भूतादिम् इन्द्रियादिं च द्विधाहंकारम् ईश्वरः बिभर्ति शङ्खरूपेण शार्ङ्गरूपेण च स्थितम्
bhūtādim indriyādiṃ ca dvidhāhaṃkāram īśvaraḥ bibharti śaṅkharūpeṇa śārṅgarūpeṇa ca sthitam
The Sovereign Lord, abiding as the conch and as the Śārṅga bow, upholds within Himself the twofold ego-principle—the primal source of the elements and the primal source of the senses.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Iconographic-theological mapping of Viṣṇu’s weapons/ornaments to tattvas of creation (ahaṃkāra, bhūta/indriya sources)
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Primary
Concept: The Lord bears within Himself the twofold ahaṃkāra—bhūtādi (tanmātra/element-source) and indriyādi (sense-source)—symbolized as conch and Śārṅga, revealing Him as the inner ground of cosmic evolution.
Vedantic Theme: Brahman
Application: Contemplate divine attributes as pointers to the inner architecture of mind and matter, cultivating reverence and detachment toward egoic identification.
Vishishtadvaita: Viṣṇu is both transcendent Lord and immanent substrate of tattvas; the world’s principles inhere in Him without collapsing His sovereignty.
Vishnu Form: Narayana
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Antaryamin: Yes
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse links them to cosmological principles: the Lord’s conch and bow symbolize the foundational sources from which the elements and the senses arise, showing Vishnu as the sustainer of creation’s inner structure.
He presents ahaṃkāra as having two orientations—one that gives rise to the elements (bhūtādi) and one that gives rise to the sense-faculties (indriyādi)—both ultimately upheld within Vishnu’s sovereignty.
Vishnu is portrayed not merely as a deity with emblems, but as Īśvara who contains and governs the causal principles of the cosmos—affirming a Vaishnava view of the Supreme as the ground of both matter and cognition.