Shloka 55
सप्तद्वीप-समुद्र-प्रमाणम्: प्लक्षादि-द्वीपवर्णनं, लोकालोक-सीमा, चन्द्र-समुद्र-वृद्धिक्षयः
गौरी कुमुद्वती चैव संध्या रात्रिर् मनोजवा ख्यातिश् च पुण्डरीका च सप्तैता वर्षनिम्नगाः
gaurī kumudvatī caiva saṃdhyā rātrir manojavā khyātiś ca puṇḍarīkā ca saptaitā varṣanimnagāḥ
Gaurī, Kumudvatī, Sandhyā, Rātri, Manojavā, Khyāti, and Puṇḍarīkā—these seven are renowned as the rivers that flow through the varṣas.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Names of the seven principal varṣa-rivers
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Varshas
Concept: The cosmos is sustained through specific, named channels of nourishment (rivers), suggesting that order and beneficence are embedded in creation.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use japa or meditation with imagery of purifying rivers to steady the mind and cultivate inner cleanliness (śauca).
Vishishtadvaita: Purifying, sustaining forces in nature function as the Lord’s śakti within the world, supporting dependent beings without breaking divine transcendence.
Vishnu Form: Narayana
Bhakti Type: shanta
FAQs
The river lists map sacred geography and portray the world as a divinely ordered realm where life, dharma, and prosperity are sustained through natural channels.
By naming the varṣa-associated rivers, Parāśara anchors abstract cosmology in recognizable features—regions are understood through their sustaining waterways and their place in cosmic order.
Even when describing geography, the Purāṇa implies Vishnu’s sovereignty: the world’s structure and its sustaining rivers function within a cosmos upheld by the Supreme Reality.