Shloka 32
सर्गभेदाः — अविद्या, स्रोतोभेदाः, नव सर्गाः, देवासुरादिसृष्टिः, वेद-यज्ञप्रादुर्भावः
उत्ससर्ज ततस् तां तु तमोमात्रात्मिकां तनुम् सा तु त्यक्ता ततस् तेन मैत्रेयाभूद् विभावरी
utsasarja tatas tāṃ tu tamomātrātmikāṃ tanum sā tu tyaktā tatas tena maitreyābhūd vibhāvarī
Then he emitted that body whose very essence was darkness (tamas). When he cast it off, O Maitreya, that discarded form became the Night—Vibhāvarī.
Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How time-divisions like night/day arise alongside the guṇa-formed bodies of the Creator
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Creation Stage: Primary
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: Night is personified as the discarded tamasic body of the Creator, symbolizing obscuration as a cosmic function.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Use the metaphor of ‘night’ to recognize phases of mental obscuration and intentionally restore clarity through sāttvika practices.
Vishishtadvaita: Obscuration (tamas) is a real mode within prakṛti under divine order, not an ultimate reality independent of the Lord.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
This verse presents Night as a cosmological principle arising from tamas—an ordering veil that enables cyclic time (day/night) within creation.
Parāśara describes tamas as capable of manifesting as a tangible ‘form’ (tanu) that, once abandoned, becomes Night—showing tamas as both a quality and a cosmic function.
Even when the verse names tamas and Night, the larger Vishnu Purana framework treats such cosmic operations as occurring within the Supreme Reality’s governance—Vishnu as the ultimate ground of order and cycles.