Shloka 10
गजो यो ऽयम् अधो ब्रह्मन्न् उपर्य् अस्यैव भूपतिः वाह्यवाहकसंबन्धं को न जानाति वै द्विज
gajo yo 'yam adho brahmann upary asyaiva bhūpatiḥ vāhyavāhakasaṃbandhaṃ ko na jānāti vai dvija
O Brahmin, the elephant is below, and above it stands the king. Who indeed, O twice-born, does not understand the relation between the bearer and what is borne?
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya, using a worldly analogy to clarify cosmic support and hierarchy)
Concept: The distinguishing principle is relational: the carrier (vāhaka) and the carried (vāhya) are known by their functional dependence and position.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Resolve confusion by mapping relationships (supporter/supported, agent/instrument) rather than obsessing over superficial similarity.
Vishishtadvaita: Illustrates śeṣa-śeṣi / ādhāra-ādheya intuition central to Śrī Vaiṣṇava thought: the supported depends on the supporter, mirroring the world’s dependence on the Lord (though here applied as an analogy).
FAQs
This verse uses a simple image—king seated above an elephant—to illustrate an intelligible hierarchy of support, a model later applied to cosmic layers where each level rests upon another, ultimately pointing to a supreme sustaining principle.
Parāśara often employs familiar social and physical relationships (like ruler and mount, carrier and carried) to make subtle cosmological ideas graspable for Maitreya, moving from the visible world to the invisible order behind it.
Even when Vishnu is not named, the cosmological argument tends toward a final foundation: all relative supports imply an ultimate supporter, aligning with Vaishnava theology where Vishnu is the supreme ground of order and stability.