Shloka 7

भू-मण्डलसंक्षेपवर्णनम् — सप्तद्वीप-सप्तसमुद्राः, मेरु-मानम्, गङ्गावतरणम्, देववन-सरोवर-लोकपालपुर्यः

Devanagari script

जम्बूद्वीपः समस्तानाम् एतेषां मध्यसंस्थितः तस्यापि मेरुर् मैत्रेय मध्ये कनकपर्वतः

Transliteration

jambūdvīpaḥ samastānām eteṣāṃ madhyasaṃsthitaḥ tasyāpi merur maitreya madhye kanakaparvataḥ

Translation

Among all these continents, O Maitreya, Jambūdvīpa lies established at the very center; and within it, at the center again, stands Meru—the golden mountain that forms the cosmic pivot of the world.

Word by Word

• jambūdvīpaḥ: Jambūdvīpa
• jambūdvīpaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jambū (प्रातिपदिक) + dvīpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (jambvāḥ dvīpaḥ) नामधेय

• samastānām: of all
• samastānām: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samasta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; ‘एतेषाम्’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम् (of all)

• eteṣām: of these
• eteṣām: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: etad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन; सम्बन्ध (genitive)

• madhya-saṃsthitaḥ: situated in the middle
• madhya-saṃsthitaḥ: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: madhya (प्रातिपदिक) + saṃsthita (प्रातिपदिक; √sthā + kta)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (मध्यॆ संस्थितः) = situated in the middle; ‘जम्बूद्वीपः’ इत्यस्य विशेषणम्

• tasya: of that; of it
• tasya: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन; सम्बन्ध

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय/अपि-अव्यय (also/even)

• meruḥ: Meru (mountain)
• meruḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: meru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• maitreya: O Maitreya
• maitreya: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maitreya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन

• madhye: in the middle
• madhye: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: madhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; अधिकरण (locative)

• kanaka-parvataḥ: the golden mountain
• kanaka-parvataḥ: Samānādhikaraṇa (Apposition/समानाधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kanaka (प्रातिपदिक) + parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; कर्मधारय: ‘कनकः पर्वतः’ = golden mountain; ‘मेरुः’ इत्यस्य अभेद-निर्देश (apposition)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Centrality of Jambūdvīpa and Mount Meru as the cosmic pivot

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative, vivid

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Dvipas

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Jambūdvīpa stands at the center of the dvīpa-system, and within it Meru rises as the golden pivot anchoring cosmic orientation.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Adopt a ‘Meru’ in practice—one steady daily center (japa, dhyāna, or pūjā) around which life’s activities revolve.

Vishishtadvaita: A real, structured cosmos possesses a meaningful center; analogously, the Lord is the inner and outer ‘pivot’ giving coherence to diverse realities.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Jambūdvīpa
• Meru

FAQs

What is the significance of Jambūdvīpa being placed at the center in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames Jambūdvīpa as the cosmological center, establishing it as the primary reference-point for Purāṇic sacred geography and the ordered arrangement of the world.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the role of Meru in this cosmological description?

Parāśara identifies Meru as the central mountain within Jambūdvīpa—an organizing axis around which the world’s spatial order is described.

The theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the structured, centered cosmos described here is presented in the Purāṇic worldview as existing under Vishnu’s supreme governance and sustaining order.