Shloka 19
लोकसंस्थानम्, ग्रहदूरी-प्रमाणम्, ब्रह्माण्डावरणानि, विष्णोः जगत्कारणत्वम्
त्रैलोक्यम् एतत् कृतकं मैत्रेय परिपठ्यते जनस् तपस् तथा सत्यम् इति चाकृतकं त्रयम्
trailokyam etat kṛtakaṃ maitreya paripaṭhyate janas tapas tathā satyam iti cākṛtakaṃ trayam
O Maitreya, this entire threefold world is recited as kṛtaka—fashioned and compounded; yet three realms are declared akṛtaka: Janas, Tapas, and Satya, not constructed like the created cosmos.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Classification of the lokas as kṛtaka (constructed) and akṛtaka (unconstructed), and their place in cosmic structure
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Secondary
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: Not all planes of existence are equally compounded: the triad Janas–Tapas–Satya is declared akṛtaka, standing beyond the usual fashioned texture of the tri-loka.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Cultivate disidentification from the merely constructed (kṛtaka) by steady contemplation on higher, subtler orders of reality and their ethical disciplines.
Vishishtadvaita: Implied hierarchy of realities supports a graded cosmos within Brahman’s body (śarīra), where subtler realms participate more transparently in the Lord’s order.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
Bhakti Type: Shanta
FAQs
This verse distinguishes ordinary created cosmic levels from the higher realms—Janas, Tapas, and Satya—which are presented as not “constructed” like the rest of the three-world system, implying greater subtlety and stability within cosmic order.
Parāśara teaches Maitreya that the trailokya is categorized as kṛtaka (a formed cosmos), while the triad of Janas, Tapas, and Satya is separately classified as akṛtaka, marking a doctrinal hierarchy among realms.
By mapping graded levels of reality—constructed and less-constructed—this cosmology supports the Purana’s vision of a supreme, ordering principle beyond the mutable world, ultimately grounded in Vishnu’s sovereignty over creation and its higher states.