Shloka 22
पञ्चमस् तु च यः प्रोक्तस् तैर्यग्योन्यः स उच्यते ततोर्ध्वस्रोतसां षष्ठो देवसर्गस् तु स स्मृतः
pañcamas tu ca yaḥ proktas tairyagyonyaḥ sa ucyate tatordhvasrotasāṃ ṣaṣṭho devasargas tu sa smṛtaḥ
The fifth creation is declared to be the tairyag-yoni—the birth of beings that move horizontally, the animal orders. Above that is remembered the sixth: the creation of those whose current rises upward, the gods—the deva-sarga.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Enumeration of the successive creations: animal (tairyag-yoni) and deva (ūrdhvasrotas) classes
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Secondary
Concept: Living beings are classified by their ‘currents’ (srotas): animals as tairyag-yoni and, above them, the upward-streaming gods (ūrdhvasrotas) as the deva-sarga.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use the hierarchy as a contemplative map: refine tendencies from instinctive horizontality toward upward aspiration through sattva, worship, and self-discipline.
Vishishtadvaita: Diversity of jīvas and their stations is real within the Lord’s ordered body (śarīra) of the universe, enabling graded spiritual ascent.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
In this verse it denotes the fifth creation: the animal and non-human orders characterized as ‘horizontal’ in their mode of life, showing how creation is classified into distinct streams of embodiment.
He presents a sequential taxonomy of sarga: after the tairyag-yoni creation comes the ūrdhva-srotas category, identified as devasarga, indicating a higher, ‘upward’ stream of beings within the cosmic hierarchy.
Though Vishnu is not named in this line, the teaching sits within Parāśara’s Vishnu-centered cosmology where all orders of beings—animal and divine—arise within the structured creation sustained by the Supreme Reality.