Shloka 27

सप्तद्वीप-समुद्र-प्रमाणम्: प्लक्षादि-द्वीपवर्णनं, लोकालोक-सीमा, चन्द्र-समुद्र-वृद्धिक्षयः

Devanagari script

कङ्कस् तु पञ्चमः षष्ठो महिषः सप्तमस् तथा ककुद्मान् पर्वतवरः सरिन्नामानि मे शृणु

Transliteration

kaṅkas tu pañcamaḥ ṣaṣṭho mahiṣaḥ saptamas tathā kakudmān parvatavaraḥ sarinnāmāni me śṛṇu

Translation

Kanka is the fifth; Mahisha the sixth; and the seventh is Kakudmān, the finest among mountains. Now hear from me the names of the rivers.

Word by Word

• कङ्कः: Kaṅka (name)
• कङ्कः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कङ्क (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha (Discourse particle/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तु (अव्यय)
• Form: विरोध/अन्वयार्थक-निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• पञ्चमः: the fifth
• पञ्चमः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: पञ्चम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक-विशेषण

• षष्ठः: the sixth
• षष्ठः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: षष्ठ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक-विशेषण

• महिषः: Mahiṣa (name)
• महिषः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महिष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• सप्तमः: the seventh
• सप्तमः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सप्तम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; क्रमवाचक-विशेषण

• तथा: likewise/also
• तथा: Sambandha (Adverbial/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रकारवाचक-अव्यय (adverb: thus/likewise)

• ककुद्मान्: Kakudmān (name; 'hump-backed/crested')
• ककुद्मान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ककुद्मत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; मतुप्-प्रत्ययान्त (possessive stem)

• पर्वतवरः: best of mountains
• पर्वतवरः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पर्वत (प्रातिपदिक) + वर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मधारय-समास (वरः पर्वतः)

• सरिन्नामानि: names of the rivers
• सरिन्नामानि: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरित् (प्रातिपदिक) + नामन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (सरितां नामानि)

• मे: my/from me
• मे: Sambandha (Possessor/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• शृणु: hear/listen
• शृणु: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु)
• Form: लोट् (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Continuation of Śālmaladvīpa’s mountain list and transition to naming its rivers.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: structured, enumerative

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Dvipas (continents)

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana (cosmic)

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Kaṅka
• Mahiṣa
• Kakudmān

FAQs

What is the significance of listing mountains like Kaṅka, Mahiṣa, and Kakudmān in the Vishnu Purana?

The verse situates sacred geography within a divinely ordered cosmos, where named mountains function as structural markers of the world-description that Parāśara is systematically transmitting.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the transition from mountains to rivers in this chapter?

He completes a sequence of mountain-names (counting them in order) and then explicitly signals the next catalog—river-names—showing the Purāṇic method of organizing cosmological knowledge by categories.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the geography is presented as part of a coherent, governed universe—an implied affirmation that the world’s order and stability rest on the Supreme Reality who sustains creation.