Shloka 28

Devanagari script

जम्बूद्वीपं समावृत्य लक्षयोजनविस्तरः मैत्रेय वलयाकारः स्थितः क्षारोदधिर् बहिः

Transliteration

jambūdvīpaṃ samāvṛtya lakṣayojanavistaraḥ maitreya valayākāraḥ sthitaḥ kṣārodadhir bahiḥ

Translation

Encircling Jambūdvīpa on every side, O Maitreya, there lies outside it the Kṣāra Ocean—the Salt Sea—spread across a hundred thousand yojanas, resting like a ring-shaped girdle around the continent.

Word by Word

• जम्बूद्वीपम्: Jambūdvīpa
• जम्बूद्वीपम्: Karma (Object of samāvṛtya/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जम्बू-द्वीप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन (singular)

• समावृत्य: having surrounded/encircled
• समावृत्य: Purvakala-kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: सम्-आ-√वृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययकृदन्त

• लक्षयोजनविस्तरः: having a breadth of a hundred-thousand yojanas
• लक्षयोजनविस्तरः: Visheshana (Qualifier of kṣārodadhiḥ/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: लक्ष-योजन-विस्तर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (singular); समासः तत्पुरुषः (लक्षयोजनः विस्तरः यस्य)

• मैत्रेय: O Maitreya
• मैत्रेय: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मैत्रेय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन (singular)

• वलयाकारः: ring-shaped
• वलयाकारः: Visheshana (Qualifier of kṣārodadhiḥ/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वलय-आकार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (singular); समासः कर्मधारयः (वलय इव आकारः)

• स्थितः: stands/is situated
• स्थितः: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्था (धातु)
• Form: क्त (past participle), पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (singular)

• क्षारोदधिः: the salt ocean
• क्षारोदधिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षार-उदधि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (singular); समासः तत्पुरुषः (क्षारस्य उदधिः)

• बहिः: outside
• बहिः: Kriya-visheshana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: बहिः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (addressing Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Encircling oceans and measurements around Jambūdvīpa (kṣārodadhi ring)

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Dvipas (continents)

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• Jambūdvīpa
• Kṣārodadhi (Salt/Brine Ocean)

FAQs

What is the significance of the Kṣāra (salt) ocean in the Vishnu Purana’s cosmology?

It functions as the first encircling ocean around Jambūdvīpa, marking a structured boundary in the Purāṇic map of the world and emphasizing an ordered, concentric design of creation.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the world’s structure to Maitreya here?

Parāśara presents the cosmos as a measured, ring-like arrangement—continents and oceans laid out concentrically—using distances (yojanas) to convey a deliberate, intelligible order.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such cosmic order as sustained by Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty—creation arranged not as chaos, but as a purposeful, upheld reality.