Shloka 6

मेरु-प्रमाणम्, सप्त-पाताल-वर्णनम्, तथा अनन्त-शेष-तत्त्वम्

Devanagari script

आह्लादकारिणः शुभ्रा मणयो यत्र सुप्रभाः नागाभरणभूषासु पातालं केन तत्समम्

Transliteration

āhlādakāriṇaḥ śubhrā maṇayo yatra suprabhāḥ nāgābharaṇabhūṣāsu pātālaṃ kena tatsamam

Translation

There, in Pātāla, radiant white jewels shine with delight-bestowing splendor; amid the ornaments and adornments of the Nāgas—what realm could ever be compared with that Pātāla?

Word by Word

• आह्लाद-कारिणः: delight-producing
• आह्लाद-कारिणः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: आह्लाद (प्रातिपदिक) + कारिन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• शुभ्राः: bright; white
• शुभ्राः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शुभ्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• मणयः: gems
• मणयः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मणि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• यत्र: where
• यत्र: Adhikarana (Location marker/अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यत्र (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, देशवाचक (relative adverb of place)

• सुप्रभाः: very radiant
• सुप्रभाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: सुप्रभ (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• नाग-अभरण-भूषासु: in the ornaments (adornments) of the Nāgas
• नाग-अभरण-भूषासु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाग (प्रातिपदिक) + अभरण (प्रातिपदिक) + भूषा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सप्तमी (7th/Locative), बहुवचन (Plural)

• पातालम्: Pātāla
• पातालम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाताल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन (Singular)

• केन: by what? with what?
• केन: Karana (Instrument/Means/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: किम् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम (interrogative pronoun), पुं/नपुं, तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (Singular)

• तत्-समम्: equal to that
• तत्-समम्: Visheshana (Predicate adjective/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक) + सम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc.), एकवचन (Singular)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas

Characters & Entities

• Pātāla
• Nāgas

FAQs

What is the significance of Pātāla’s splendor in the Vishnu Purana?

It highlights that even the netherworlds are richly ordered realms within the cosmos, displaying beauty and abundance under the larger sovereignty of Vishnu’s universal arrangement.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the netherworlds to Maitreya here?

He uses vivid, sensory imagery—radiant gems and Nāga adornments—to convey Pātāla as a structured and magnificent region of the universe, not merely a place of darkness.

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

Though Vishnu is not named in this verse, the cosmological mapping assumes Vishnu as the supreme regulator of all lokas, with every realm—high or low—existing within His ordered reality.