Shloka 52
सर्गभेदाः — अविद्या, स्रोतोभेदाः, नव सर्गाः, देवासुरादिसृष्टिः, वेद-यज्ञप्रादुर्भावः
श्वापदो द्विखुरो हस्ती वानरः पक्षिपञ्चमाः औदकाः पशवः षष्ठाः सप्तमास् तु सरीसृपाः
śvāpado dvikhuro hastī vānaraḥ pakṣipañcamāḥ audakāḥ paśavaḥ ṣaṣṭhāḥ saptamās tu sarīsṛpāḥ
Among embodied orders of life, the carnivores are one; the cloven-hoofed are another; the elephant-kind another; and the monkey-kind yet another. Birds are reckoned as the fifth, aquatic creatures as the sixth, and the crawling, creeping beings as the seventh—thus the Lord’s ordered creation shines in many forms.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Orders of embodied life and their classification
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: systematic
Creation Stage: Secondary
Concept: The manifold species and ‘orders’ of embodied beings manifest a deliberate, intelligible arrangement within sṛṣṭi.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Practice reverence toward life by recognizing each creature’s place in the larger moral ecology of dharma.
Vishishtadvaita: Plurality of jīvas and bodies is affirmed as real within the Lord’s body (śarīra-śarīrin relation), expressing His ordered will.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Jagat Karana: Yes
FAQs
It presents creation as an ordered, intelligible cosmos—diverse life-forms arranged in classes, reflecting the Lord’s governance rather than random emergence.
Parāśara enumerates distinct groups of beings (predators, hoofed animals, elephants, monkeys, birds, aquatic life, and reptiles), showing a systematic unfolding of life within the created world.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s frame treats such ordered classifications as expressions of Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty—creation’s diversity exists within His sustaining cosmic law.