Shloka 25

वेदव्यास-परम्परा तथा प्रणव-ब्रह्म-स्तुति

Devanagari script

अगाधापारम् अक्षय्यं जगत्संमोहनालयम् संप्रकाशप्रवृत्तिभ्यां पुरुषार्थप्रयोजनम्

Transliteration

agādhāpāram akṣayyaṃ jagatsaṃmohanālayam saṃprakāśapravṛttibhyāṃ puruṣārthaprayojanam

Translation

He is unfathomable and shoreless, imperishable—the very abode from which the world’s bewilderment arises. By His twin powers of illumination and activity, He becomes the supreme ground and final purpose of the human aims of life.

Word by Word

• अगाध-अ-पारम्: unfathomable and boundless
• अगाध-अ-पारम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अगाध (प्रातिपदिक) + अपार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (agādha and apāra)

• अक्षय्यम्: imperishable
• अक्षय्यम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अक्षय्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; विशेषण

• जगत्-संमोहन-आलयम्: the abode/source of the world’s delusion
• जगत्-संमोहन-आलयम्: Visheshya (Qualified noun/विशेष्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक) + संमोहन (प्रातिपदिक) + आलय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; समासः षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (जगतः संमोहनस्य आलयः)

• सं-प्रकाश-प्रवृत्तिभ्याम्: by illumination and activity
• सं-प्रकाश-प्रवृत्तिभ्याम्: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सम् (उपसर्ग) + प्रकाश (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रवृत्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3), द्विवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्व (prakāśa and pravṛtti)

• पुरुषार्थ-प्रयोजनम्: the purpose/aim of human goals
• पुरुषार्थ-प्रयोजनम्: Visheshana (Appositional qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पुरुषार्थ (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रयोजन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1/2), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (पुरुषार्थस्य प्रयोजनम्)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Nature of the Supreme as unfathomable, and as the ground of both illumination and activity that govern worldly experience

Teaching: Philosophical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The imperishable Supreme is beyond measure, yet serves as the locus from which both delusion and the twin powers of illumination and activity operate, grounding the puruṣārthas.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Discern between delusion and illumination in one’s mind, and align action (pravṛtti) with inner clarity through disciplined practice and devotion.

Vishishtadvaita: The Lord’s śakti enables both cognition and action in embodied souls, indicating immanence (antaryāmitva) without reducing His transcendence.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Antaryamin: Yes

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu
• Purusha (Supreme Person)
• Jagat (the world)

FAQs

What is the significance of prakāśa (illumination) and pravṛtti (activity) in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents them as a paired divine operation through which Vishnu both reveals reality (prakāśa) and sets the world-process in motion (pravṛtti), making Him the basis of experience and action.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the human goals (puruṣārtha) in relation to Vishnu?

Parāśara frames Vishnu as the ultimate prayojana (final end) of human striving—so even dharma, prosperity, pleasure, and liberation find their highest fulfillment when oriented toward Him.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu being called 'the abode of the world's delusion'?

It asserts Vishnu’s sovereignty over both bondage and liberation: the conditions under which beings become bewildered, and the illumination that dispels it, are encompassed within His supreme reality.