Shloka 41
सोमचक्रः, ग्रह-रथाः, ध्रुवबन्धनं, शिशुमारसंनिवेशः, विष्णु-सर्वात्मकता
Moon, Planets, Dhruva-Tethering, Śiśumāra, and Vishnu as All
वस्त्व् अस्ति किं कुत्रचिद् आदिमध्य पर्यन्तहीनं सततैकरूपम् यच् चान्यथात्वं द्विज याति भूयो न तत् तथा तत्र कुतो हि तत्त्वम्
vastv asti kiṃ kutracid ādimadhya paryantahīnaṃ satataikarūpam yac cānyathātvaṃ dvija yāti bhūyo na tat tathā tatra kuto hi tattvam
Is there anywhere any real entity that is without beginning, middle, or end—ever of one unbroken nature? For whatever again falls into alteration, O twice-born, is not truly such; and where there is change, how can there be the abiding truth of reality?
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Criterion of true reality (tattva): that which is beginningless, endless, and unchanging; critique of changeful entities
Teaching: Philosophical
Quality: authoritative
Concept: Whatever undergoes change cannot be the ultimate tattva; true reality must be beginningless, endless, and ever the same.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Use impermanence as a daily meditation: observe change in body, moods, and possessions to cultivate detachment and turn toward the unchanging Lord.
Vishishtadvaita: Encourages discrimination between transient modes and the eternal ground; in Viśiṣṭādvaita, the unchanging tattva is Viṣṇu/Paramātman while changing cit-acit remain real but dependent.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman (philosophical)
FAQs
This verse argues that whatever undergoes alteration cannot be the final, abiding truth; it points toward a highest principle—identified in Vaishnava reading as Vishnu—whose nature is constant beyond temporal phases.
Parāśara frames change as a marker of conditioned existence: if a thing repeatedly becomes otherwise, it cannot claim the status of ultimate tattva, which must be steady and self-consistent.
The verse supports the Vaishnava conclusion that the Supreme (Vishnu/Nārāyaṇa) is the enduring ground of reality, while mutable phenomena belong to the realm of transformation within cosmic order.