Shloka 11
शिशुमार-रूपं, ध्रुवबन्धनम्, वृष्टिचक्र-पालनम्, नारायणाधारत्वम्
सरित्समुद्रभौमास् तु तथापः प्राणिसंभवाः चतुष्प्रकारा भगवान् आदत्ते सविता मुने
saritsamudrabhaumās tu tathāpaḥ prāṇisaṃbhavāḥ catuṣprakārā bhagavān ādatte savitā mune
O sage, the Blessed Sun, Savitā, by his sovereign ordinance draws up the waters in four modes: those of rivers, those of the ocean, those that arise from the earth, and those born from living beings.
Sage Parāśara
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: How the Sun ‘draws up’ waters in multiple ways to sustain worldly order
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Concept: The Sun, as a cosmic regulator, gathers waters from river, ocean, earth, and living beings, maintaining the world’s cycles.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: See ecological interdependence as sacred; practice restraint and stewardship of water as a dharmic duty.
Vishishtadvaita: The regulated functioning of natural powers can be understood as the Lord’s śarīra (body) operating under His sovereignty.
FAQs
This verse presents the Sun (Savitṛ) as a divinely empowered regulator who sustains cosmic order by governing the circulation of waters, ensuring fertility, rains, and continuity of life.
Parāśara classifies waters as river-waters, ocean-waters, earth-born waters (springs/ground moisture), and waters arising from living beings (bodily fluids and organic moisture), all of which the Sun is said to “draw up.”
Even when describing a natural process, the Purana frames it as divinely governed—nature functions as an instrument of higher sovereignty, aligning cosmology with a theistic vision of ordered creation and preservation.