Shloka 21

देवकी-विवाहः, आकाशवाणी, भूरभारावतरण-याचना, क्षीराब्धि-स्तुति, केशावतार-नियोजनम्

Devanagari script

तथाप्य् अनेकरूपस्य तस्य रूपाण्य् अहर्निशम् बाध्यबाधकतां यान्ति कल्लोला इव सागरे

Transliteration

tathāpy anekarūpasya tasya rūpāṇy aharniśam bādhyabādhakatāṃ yānti kallolā iva sāgare

Translation

Yet, though He is of countless forms, those forms—day and night—ceaselessly become both sublated and sublating, like waves upon the ocean: ever arising, ever dissolving, while the ocean itself is not diminished.

Word by Word

• तथापि: even so, however
• तथापि: Sambandha (Discourse connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय) + अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय/अनुनयार्थक-निपातसमूहः (concessive particle: “even so/however”)

• अनेकरूपस्य: of (one) having many forms
• अनेकरूपस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अनेक (प्रातिपदिक) + रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग-सम्भव; षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (genitive singular: “of the many-formed”)

• तस्य: of that (one)
• तस्य: Sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठी-सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम; पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th), एकवचन

• रूपाणि: forms
• रूपाणि: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• अहर्निशम्: day and night, continually
• अहर्निशम्: Adhikarana (Time locus/कालाधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अहर्निशम् (अव्यय; अहन्+निशा)
• Form: अव्यय; कालवाचक-क्रियाविशेषणम् (adverb of time: “day and night/constantly”)

• बाध्यबाधकताम्: the condition of being oppressed and oppressing
• बाध्यबाधकताम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: बाध्य (कृदन्त/विशेषण) + बाधक (कृदन्त/विशेषण) + ता (तद्धित-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; भाववाचक-तद्धितान्त (abstract noun: “state of being to-be-oppressed and oppressing”)

• यान्ति: go, pass into, become
• यान्ति: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: या (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), बहुवचन; परस्मैपदम्

• कल्लोलाः: waves
• कल्लोलाः: Upamana (Standard of comparison/उपमान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कल्लोल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन

• इव: like, as
• इव: Upama-sambandha (Comparative marker/उपमा)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: इव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; उपमावाचक-निपात (comparative particle)

• सागरे: in the ocean
• सागरे: Adhikarana (Locus/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सागर (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Nature of the Lord’s manifold forms and their non-diminishing ground-reality

Teaching: Philosophical

Quality: revealing

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: All manifest forms arise and subside in mutual sublation, while the underlying Supreme Reality remains undiminished, like waves on the ocean.

Vedantic Theme: Brahman

Application: Practice witnessing change without anxiety by anchoring attention in the unchanging Lord as the ground of all appearances.

Vishishtadvaita: The many forms are real as modes (prakāra) dependent on the one Lord, who remains the unexhausted substantive cause.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Vishnu

FAQs

What is the significance of the ocean-and-waves metaphor in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse uses waves in the ocean to show that Vishnu remains the stable, underlying reality while His forms appear and disappear in continuous motion.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the idea of bādhyabādhaka here?

Parāśara indicates that manifested forms are in constant flux—each state supersedes another—yet this does not compromise the Supreme Being who supports all manifestation.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Vishnu is presented as the sovereign, unchanging ground of reality whose innumerable forms operate within time, while He Himself remains transcendent and complete.