Shloka 87
एवं द्वीपाः समुद्रैस् तु सप्त सप्तभिर् आवृताः द्वीपश् चैव समुद्रश् च समानौ द्विगुणौ परौ
evaṃ dvīpāḥ samudrais tu sapta saptabhir āvṛtāḥ dvīpaś caiva samudraś ca samānau dviguṇau parau
Thus the continents are encircled—seven and seven—by the oceans. Each continent and its bordering ocean are equal in extent; yet each successive pair beyond them is twice the measure of the one before.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the seven dvīpas and seven oceans are arranged and how their measures scale
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: systematic and revealing
Cosmic Hierarchy: Dvipas
Concept: The cosmos exhibits proportional scaling (each successive ring doubling), indicating a structured and intelligible universe.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Use the idea of proportional order to reflect on discipline and measure in one’s own life (niyama).
Vishishtadvaita: Ordered gradation in the world supports the view of the universe as a coherent śarīra (body) of the Lord, pervaded by His governance.
Vishnu Form: Narayana (cosmic)
FAQs
They present a concentric model of sacred geography where the world is ordered in paired rings—continent and ocean—expressing a patterned cosmic design governed by dharma and ultimately upheld by Vishnu.
Parāśara states that each dvīpa and its adjoining ocean match each other in measure, while the next outer pair is twice the size of the preceding one—an orderly scaling that structures the cosmos in expanding tiers.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic cosmology functions as a depiction of a universe sustained by a supreme, intelligent order—classically understood in the Vishnu Purana as resting upon Vishnu’s sovereign reality.