Shloka 26

दुर्वासाशापः, क्षीरसागरमन्थनम्, श्रीः (लक्ष्मी) उद्भवः तथा श्रीस्तुतिः

Devanagari script

ततःप्रभृति निःश्रीकं सशक्रं भुवनत्रयम् मैत्रेयासीद् अपध्वस्तं संक्षीणौषधिवीरुधम्

Transliteration

tataḥprabhṛti niḥśrīkaṃ saśakraṃ bhuvanatrayam maitreyāsīd apadhvastaṃ saṃkṣīṇauṣadhivīrudham

Translation

From that time onward, O Maitreya, the three worlds—Indra’s realm included—were bereft of Śrī and splendor; all fell into ruin, and the herbs and creeping plants were exhausted.

Word by Word

• ततःप्रभृति: from that time onward
• ततःप्रभृति: Kriya-viseshana (कालाधिकरण-निबद्ध क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय) + प्रभृति (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास; कालवाचक-अव्यय (from then onward)

• निःश्रीकम्: bereft of splendor/prosperity
• निःश्रीकम्: Karta (कर्ता/विषय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: निः (उपसर्ग/निपात) + श्रीक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (devoid of prosperity)

• सशक्रम्: together with Śakra (Indra)
• सशक्रम्: Karta (कर्ता/विषय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स (उपसर्गार्थक-प्रातिपदिक) + शक्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: बहुव्रीहि (शक्रेण सहितम्/with Indra); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

• भुवनत्रयम्: the three worlds
• भुवनत्रयम्: Karta (कर्ता/विषय)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भुवन (प्रातिपदिक) + त्रय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: द्विगु-समास (त्रीणि भुवनानि); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• मैत्रेय: O Maitreya
• मैत्रेय: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मैत्रेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन

• आसीत्: was/became
• आसीत्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: अस् (धातु) + लङ्
• Form: लङ् (परस्मैपद, imperfect); प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन

• अपध्वस्तम्: ruined/destroyed
• अपध्वस्तम्: Karta (कर्ता/विषय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ध्वंस् (धातु) उपसर्ग-अप + क्त (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण (destroyed)

• संक्षीणौषधिवीरुधम्: with herbs and plants depleted
• संक्षीणौषधिवीरुधम्: Karta (कर्ता/विषय-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: संक्षीण (क्षि (धातु) + क्त, उपसर्ग-सम्) + औषधि (प्रातिपदिक) + वीरुध् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (औषधयश्च वीरुधश्च येषां ते; here as adjectival compound); नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; विशेषण

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: revealing

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: When dharma declines, the very vitality of the worlds withers, showing the inseparability of moral order and cosmic flourishing.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Treat ethical discipline and worship as sustaining forces for community and environment; recognize that collective vice produces collective depletion.

Vishishtadvaita: Śrī (Lakṣmī) as divine grace and auspiciousness is not merely external wealth but a cosmic quality that departs when dharma wanes.

Vaishnava Theology

Lakshmi Presence: Sri (fortune)

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• Indra (Śakra)
• Three worlds (Trailokya)

FAQs

What is the significance of the three worlds becoming 'niḥśrīka' in the Vishnu Purana?

It signals a cosmic phase where prosperity, radiance, and stability withdraw from all realms, indicating the onset of large-scale decline/dissolution rather than a local calamity.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the collapse of universal order here?

By stating that even Indra’s domain is included in the ruin, Parāśara frames the event as a universal cycle—where worldly sovereignty and natural abundance fade together as time turns toward dissolution.

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

The verse underscores that all worldly splendor is contingent and cyclical; in Vaishnava cosmology, enduring order ultimately rests in Vishnu as the sustaining reality beyond the rise and fall of the worlds.