Shloka 52
भू-मण्डलसंक्षेपवर्णनम् — सप्तद्वीप-सप्तसमुद्राः, मेरु-मानम्, गङ्गावतरणम्, देववन-सरोवर-लोकपालपुर्यः
यानि किंपुरुषाद्यानि वर्षाण्य् अष्टौ महामुने न तेषु शोको नायासो नोद्वेगः क्षुद्भयादिकम्
yāni kiṃpuruṣādyāni varṣāṇy aṣṭau mahāmune na teṣu śoko nāyāso nodvegaḥ kṣudbhayādikam
O great sage, in those eight regions beginning with Kiṃpuruṣa there is no sorrow, no weariness, no agitation; nor do afflictions such as hunger and fear ever arise.
Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The qualities of the eight varṣas (Kiṃpuruṣa etc.) contrasted with Bhārata.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: descriptive
Cosmic Hierarchy: Varshas (regions)
Concept: Certain varṣas are depicted as free from ordinary afflictions like hunger, fear, and agitation, indicating differentiated karmic conditions across cosmic geography.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use prosperity and comfort as supports for sādhana rather than complacency; cultivate inner freedom from śoka and udvega even amid hardship.
Vishishtadvaita: The cosmos is a graded, purposeful order under the Lord, with beings experiencing results according to their karmic station within His governance.
Bhakti Type: Shanta (peace)
FAQs
They are portrayed as exceptionally ordered regions where common human afflictions—grief, fatigue, anxiety, hunger, and fear—do not manifest, highlighting graded conditions of existence within cosmic geography.
By stating negatively that sorrow, exertion, agitation, and hunger-fear do not occur there, Parāśara frames these varṣas as realms governed by a higher harmony within the cosmic arrangement he is describing to Maitreya.
Even without naming Vishnu in the verse, the Purana’s cosmology implies that such ordered, suffering-free realms reflect the sustaining sovereignty of Vishnu as the ground of universal order and the regulator of worldly conditions.