Shloka 24
आदित्यकर्म, त्रयीमयी वैष्णवी शक्तिः, सवितुरन्तर्यामी
The Sun’s Function and Vishnu’s Vedic Śakti within Savitṛ
आदत्ते रश्मिभिर् यं तु क्षितिसंस्थं रसं रविः तम् उत्सृजति भूतानां पुष्ट्यर्थं सस्यवृद्धये
ādatte raśmibhir yaṃ tu kṣitisaṃsthaṃ rasaṃ raviḥ tam utsṛjati bhūtānāṃ puṣṭyarthaṃ sasyavṛddhaye
The essence that abides within the earth the Sun draws up with his rays; then he releases it again, for the nourishment of all beings and for the increase of crops.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the Sun’s rays draw terrestrial essence and return it as nourishment and crop-growth
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: revealing
Concept: The Sun cyclically draws up the earth’s rasa by rays and releases it for the nourishment of beings and the flourishing of vegetation.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Cultivate reverence for ecological cycles (sunlight, water, soil) as sacred processes; align daily discipline with gratitude and restraint in consumption.
Vishishtadvaita: The Lord’s governance is mediated through natural agencies; the world’s material processes are purposeful and beneficent within the divine order.
Lakshmi Presence: Bhumi
FAQs
It presents a sacred ecology: the Sun’s action is part of a divinely ordered cycle that sustains life, returning nourishment to beings and enabling agricultural abundance.
Parāśara frames natural processes as purposeful and sustaining—Ravi draws up the earth’s essence and releases it again so that life and crops may flourish, revealing an ordered, providential cosmos.
Even when Vishnu is not named directly, the Purana’s worldview treats such cosmic functions as expressions of the Supreme Lord’s sovereignty, working through the Sun and the elements to preserve and nourish creation.