Shloka 49

Devanagari script

पद्भ्यां चाश्वान् समातङ्गान् रासभान् गवयान् मृगान् उष्ट्रान् अश्वतरांश् चैव न्यङ्कून् अन्याश् च जातयः

Transliteration

padbhyāṃ cāśvān samātaṅgān rāsabhān gavayān mṛgān uṣṭrān aśvatarāṃś caiva nyaṅkūn anyāś ca jātayaḥ

Translation

And from the feet arose the swift horse; the mighty elephants; the donkey; the gavaya (wild ox); the deer and other beasts of the forest; the camel; the mule; the nyaṅku; and many other kinds besides.

Word by Word

• पद्भ्याम्: from the two feet
• पद्भ्याम्: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पद् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान) / तृतीया (3rd/करण) द्विवचन; अत्र ‘from the two feet’ इति पञ्चमी-द्विवचनार्थः

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Coordination/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (निपात)
• Form: अव्यय — समुच्चय

• अश्वान्: horses
• अश्वान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्व (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• समातङ्गान्: elephants
• समातङ्गान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: समातङ्ग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• रासभान्: donkeys
• रासभान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रासभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• गवयान्: gayals/wild cattle
• गवयान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गवय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• मृगान्: deer, wild animals
• मृगान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मृग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• उष्ट्रान्: camels
• उष्ट्रान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उष्ट्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• अश्वतरान्: mules
• अश्वतरान्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अश्वतर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Coordination/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (निपात)
• Form: अव्यय — समुच्चय

• एव: indeed, also
• एव: Avadharana (Emphasis/अवधारण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (निपात)
• Form: अव्यय — अवधारण (emphasis/particle)

• न्यङ्कून्: antelopes (nyanku)
• न्यङ्कून्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: न्यङ्कु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, द्वितीया, बहुवचन

• अन्याः: other
• अन्याः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Coordination/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (निपात)
• Form: अव्यय — समुच्चय

• जातयः: species, kinds
• जातयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जाति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, बहुवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Account of creation—classification of animals and their ordered stations

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Secondary

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Living beings arise in diverse forms with distinct capacities, each occupying a fitting niche within cosmic order.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Cultivate respect for biodiversity and one’s role within a larger order; reduce harm (ahiṃsā) where possible.

Vishishtadvaita: Diversity is not negated; it is harmonized as modes of the one Lord’s body (śarīra-śarīrī-bhāva) in Viśiṣṭādvaita reading.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Horses
• Elephants
• Camels
• Mules
• Deer
• Gavaya

FAQs

What is the significance of animals arising from specific limbs in the Vishnu Purana?

It presents creation as an ordered manifestation where each species has a defined place and function within cosmic harmony, not a random emergence.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the structure of creation in this chapter?

He describes beings as issuing from different parts of the primal form, establishing a graded, intelligible order of life that supports the world’s stability.

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

Even when the verse lists creatures, the Purana’s framework treats the cosmos as sustained by the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—whose ordering power upholds the diversity of life.