Shloka 3
लोकसंस्थानम्, ग्रहदूरी-प्रमाणम्, ब्रह्माण्डावरणानि, विष्णोः जगत्कारणत्वम्
रविचन्द्रमसोर् यावन् मयूखैर् अवभास्यते ससमुद्रसरिच्छैला तावती पृथिवी स्मृता
ravicandramasor yāvan mayūkhair avabhāsyate sasamudrasaricchailā tāvatī pṛthivī smṛtā
As far as the rays of the Sun and the Moon spread their illumination, so far is the Earth understood to extend—together with its oceans, its rivers, and its mountains.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Defining the extent of the earth in relation to the sun and moon’s rays
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: The earth’s extent is conceived relative to cosmic illumination—sun and moon define the operative sphere of the terrestrial world with its seas, rivers, and mountains.
Application: Reflect on interdependence: terrestrial life is sustained and delimited by higher cosmic functions; cultivate gratitude and dharmic use of resources.
Vishishtadvaita: Suggests a coordinated cosmos where higher luminous powers serve the lower realm—compatible with a theistic teleology under the Supreme’s ordinance.
FAQs
It frames the Earth’s recognized extent in relation to cosmic illumination—linking terrestrial geography to the governing order of the heavens within Puranic cosmology.
Parāśara gives a practical cosmological definition: the Earth is as extensive as the region reached by solar and lunar light, including its oceans, rivers, and mountains.
Though not named in this verse, the cosmological measure implies an ordered universe—classically understood in the Vishnu Purana as sustained by Vishnu’s sovereign power and cosmic regulation.