Shloka 27
सूर्यरथ-कालचक्र-आयनविभागः, संध्योपासनम्, देवयान-पितृयानम्, विष्णुपद-गङ्गावतरणम्
कुलालचक्रपर्यन्तो भ्रमन्न् एष दिवाकरः करोत्य् अहस् तथा रात्रिं विमुञ्चन् मेदिनीं द्विज
kulālacakraparyanto bhramann eṣa divākaraḥ karoty ahas tathā rātriṃ vimuñcan medinīṃ dvija
O twice-born one, as Divākara, the Sun, whirls like the rim of a potter’s wheel, he brings forth day and night, releasing the earth alternately into light and into darkness.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the Sun’s circular motion produces the alternation of day and night for the earth.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: The alternation of day and night arises from the Sun’s circling course, likened to a potter’s wheel, emphasizing cyclical order in the cosmos.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Contemplate cyclic rhythms (work/rest) as a discipline for balance and steadiness rather than disorderly living.
Vishishtadvaita: The regular alternation of light and darkness reflects a governed cosmos, consistent with the Lord’s sustaining rule over nature’s processes.
FAQs
It conveys rapid, continuous circular motion: just as a wheel’s rim sweeps around swiftly, the Sun’s circling course produces the alternating experience of day and night for the earth.
He attributes day and night to the Sun’s revolving movement, by which the earth is successively “released” into light and then into darkness—an ordered, repeating cosmic rhythm.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic framework treats such cosmic regularity as part of Vishnu’s sustaining sovereignty—orderly time and motion functioning within the Supreme Reality’s governance.