Shloka 95

Devanagari script

ततस् तमः समावृत्य तं शैलं सर्वतः स्थितम् तमश् चाण्डकटाहेन समन्तात् परिवेष्टितम्

Transliteration

tatas tamaḥ samāvṛtya taṃ śailaṃ sarvataḥ sthitam tamaś cāṇḍakaṭāhena samantāt pariveṣṭitam

Translation

Then darkness (tamas) spread forth and completely covered that mountain on every side; and that very darkness, in turn, was encircled all around by the shell of the cosmic egg (brahmāṇḍa), like a vast enclosing cauldron.

Word by Word

• ततः: then/thereafter
• ततः: Apadana/Sequence (Source/क्रम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ततः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; क्रम/अपादानवाचक (then/from there)

• तमः: darkness
• तमः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• समावृत्य: having covered
• समावृत्य: Purvakala-Kriya (Prior action/पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सम् + आ + वृत् (धातु) + ल्यप् → समावृत्य (अव्ययकृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त/ल्यबन्त अव्ययकृदन्त (gerund), ‘having covered/enveloped’

• तम्: that (him/it)
• तम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• शैलम्: mountain
• शैलम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शैल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• सर्वतः: on all sides
• सर्वतः: Kriya-Visheshana (Adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: सर्वतः (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; दिशावाचक (from all sides)

• स्थितम्: standing/located
• स्थितम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: स्था (धातु) + क्त → स्थित (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘स्थित’ = स्थित/अवस्थित

• तमः: darkness
• तमः: Karma/Prameya (Object/that which is described)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तमस् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Samuccaya (Conjunction/समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय (conjunction)

• अण्डकटाहेन: by the cosmic shell (egg-like enclosure)
• अण्डकटाहेन: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अण्ड + कटाह (प्रातिपदिक; समास)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, एकवचन; ‘अण्ड-कटाह’ = अण्डस्य कटाह इव (cosmic shell/cauldron-like enclosure)

• समन्तात्: all around
• समन्तात्: Kriya-Visheshana (Adverb/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: समन्तात् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; सर्वतः/परितः अर्थे (from all around)

• परिवेष्टितम्: enclosed/surrounded
• परिवेष्टितम्: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: परि + वेष्ट् (धातु) + क्त → परिवेष्टित (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग (सन्दर्भे ‘तमः’ नपुंसक), प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘enclosed/surrounded’

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: What lies beyond Lokāloka; the enveloping darkness and the cosmic egg-shell boundary.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: revealing

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Brahmanda

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The manifest cosmos is finite and enclosed: beyond its illumined order lies tamas, and beyond that the brahmāṇḍa’s limiting shell—implying dependence on the transcendent Supreme.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Cultivate śānta-bhāva by recognizing the limits of worldly experience and turning the mind toward the transcendent support of all.

Vishishtadvaita: The world is a real, bounded manifestation within the Lord’s sovereignty; finitude and enclosure underscore the universe’s dependence on Para-Brahman as its cause and support.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Brahmāṇḍa (cosmic egg)
• Tamas (darkness)

FAQs

What is the significance of darkness (tamas) in this Vishnu Purana verse?

Here tamas functions as the encircling darkness beyond the structured cosmic regions, indicating a boundary where ordered manifestation gives way to obscuration and unmanifest limitation.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the universe’s enclosure in this context?

Parāśara describes the world as surrounded by successive limits: a mountain at the edge of the known regions, then darkness covering it, and finally the brahmāṇḍa-like shell enclosing that darkness—presenting the cosmos as a contained, ordered system.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this cosmological description?

Even when the verse speaks of boundaries like darkness and the cosmic shell, the Purāṇic framework treats such order as dependent on Vishnu’s sovereign sustaining power, with the Supreme Reality underlying and regulating the manifested universe.