Shloka 90
सूर्यरथ-कालचक्र-आयनविभागः, संध्योपासनम्, देवयान-पितृयानम्, विष्णुपद-गङ्गावतरणम्
नागवीथ्युत्तरं यच् च सप्तर्षिभ्यश् च दक्षिणम् उत्तरः सवितुः पन्था देवयानस् तु स स्मृतः
nāgavīthyuttaraṃ yac ca saptarṣibhyaś ca dakṣiṇam uttaraḥ savituḥ panthā devayānas tu sa smṛtaḥ
That path which lies to the north of Nāgavīthī and to the south of the Seven Sages is Savitṛ’s northern course. It is remembered as the Devayāna—the divine way by which beings ascend.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Definition and placement of the northern solar course (devayāna) relative to Nāgavīthī and the Saptarṣis
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: The Sun’s northern course—mapped between Nāgavīthī and the Saptarṣis—is the devayāna, the ‘divine way’ of ascent contrasted with the southern path.
Vedantic Theme: Moksha
Application: Orient life toward ‘uttarāyaṇa’ values: clarity, self-discipline, and liberating knowledge/devotion rather than merely reward-seeking ritualism.
Vishishtadvaita: Suggests graded soteriological pathways within a real cosmos governed by the Lord, where higher ascent corresponds to higher purity and God-oriented intent.
FAQs
Here Devayāna is defined as a specific northern celestial corridor associated with the Sun’s higher course, marking a ‘divine way’ of ascent in the Purāṇic map of the heavens.
He gives it by relational direction: it lies north of Nāgavīthī yet south of the Saptarṣi region, identifying it as the Sun’s northern route within the ordered cosmos he is describing to Maitreya.
Though not named in this verse, the ordered routes of ascent and the Sun’s regulated course are presented within a Vishnu-centered cosmos, where the harmony of the universe reflects the sovereignty of the Supreme Reality that sustains all worlds.