Shloka 8
शिशुमार-रूपं, ध्रुवबन्धनम्, वृष्टिचक्र-पालनम्, नारायणाधारत्वम्
येन विप्र विधानेन तन् ममैकमनाः शृणु विवस्वान् अष्टभिर् मासैर् आदायापो रसान्विताः वर्षत्य् अम्बु ततश् चान्नम् अन्नाद् अप्य् अखिलं जगत्
yena vipra vidhānena tan mamaikamanāḥ śṛṇu vivasvān aṣṭabhir māsair ādāyāpo rasānvitāḥ varṣaty ambu tataś cānnam annād apy akhilaṃ jagat
Hear with single-pointed mind, O brāhmaṇa, the ordinance by which this is done. Vivasvān, the Sun, for eight months draws up the waters with their sap and essence, then releases them as rain. From rain comes food, and from food the whole world is sustained.
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The ordinance (vidhāna) of rainfall and food-production sustaining the world.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: compassionate
Concept: By divine ordinance, the Sun draws up waters for eight months and releases them as rain, from which food arises and thereby the world is sustained.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: Honor ecological cycles as sacred—practice gratitude before food, conserve water, and align livelihood with dharmic stewardship.
Vishishtadvaita: Natural laws function as the Lord’s niyati (ordinance): a real world-process governed from within by the Supreme.
Vishnu Form: Narayana
Bhakti Type: Shanta
Antaryamin: Yes
FAQs
It presents the hydrological and seasonal cycle as a regulated cosmic ordinance: the Sun gathers the waters’ essence over most of the year and then releases them as rain, ensuring continuity of life.
Parāśara lays out a causal chain—rain produces grain, and grain sustains all beings—showing that material prosperity and life itself depend on the ordered functioning of nature.
Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purāṇic framework treats such cosmic regulation as operating under the Supreme Lord’s sovereignty—Vishnu upholds the world through lawful processes like the Sun’s course, rainfall, and nourishment.