Shloka 44

Devanagari script

अन्याः सहस्रशस् तत्र क्षुद्रनद्यस् तथाचलाः कुशद्वीपे कुशस्तम्बः संज्ञया तस्य तत् स्मृतम्

Transliteration

anyāḥ sahasraśas tatra kṣudranadyas tathācalāḥ kuśadvīpe kuśastambaḥ saṃjñayā tasya tat smṛtam

Translation

There are also thousands upon thousands of minor rivers there, and likewise mountains. In Kuśa-dvīpa, a clump of sacred kuśa-grass is remembered as its distinctive sign and name.

Word by Word

• अन्याः: other
• अन्याः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; विशेषण (qualifier)

• सहस्रशः: by the thousand; in thousands
• सहस्रशः: Kriya-vishesana (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: शस्-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (distributive/adverb): 'by thousands/in thousands'

• तत्र: there
• तत्र: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)

• क्षुद्रनद्यः: small rivers
• क्षुद्रनद्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन; कर्मधारय: 'क्षुद्राः नद्यः'

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• अचलाः: mountains
• अचलाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अचल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन

• कुशद्वीपे: in Kuśadvīpa
• कुशद्वीपे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुश (प्रातिपदिक) + द्वीप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: 'कुशस्य द्वीपः'

• कुशस्तम्बः: Kuśastamba (clump of kuśa grass; name)
• कुशस्तम्बः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कुश (प्रातिपदिक) + स्तम्ब (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष: 'कुशानां स्तम्बः'

• संज्ञया: by the name/designation
• संज्ञया: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: संज्ञा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन

• तस्य: of it/of that
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive relation/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• तत्: that (name/thing)
• तत्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• स्मृतम्: is remembered/called
• स्मृतम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: स्मृ (धातु)
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; कर्मणि प्रयोगार्थः

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating) to Maitreya

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Further features of Kuśa-dvīpa: countless minor rivers/mountains and its defining kuśa-grass emblem and etymology.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: explanatory

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Dvipas

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The cosmos is read through sacred signs (saṃjñā): names and features encode dhārmic meaning, linking geography with ritual purity and remembrance.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Treat daily ritual symbols (kuśa, water, mantra) as mindful cues that connect ordinary life to sacred order.

Vishishtadvaita: Material symbols can truly mediate spiritual meaning because the world is a real mode (prakāra) of the Lord, not a mere illusion.

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Kuśa-dvīpa
• Kuśa (sacred grass)

FAQs

What is the significance of Kuśa-dvīpa in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse highlights Kuśa-dvīpa as a fully ordered realm with countless rivers and mountains, distinguished by the emblematic presence of kuśa-grass—linking cosmic geography with sacred symbolism.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the structure of the world in this section?

Parāśara proceeds dvīpa by dvīpa, listing characteristic features (rivers, mountains, identifying marks), presenting the universe as a systematically arranged domain rather than a random expanse.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic cosmography is framed as an expression of a governed cosmos—an ordered creation sustained under Vishnu’s supreme sovereignty.