Shloka 2

कलिस्वरूप-वर्णनम् एवं कालमान-प्रस्तावना

Devanagari script

श्रोतुम् इच्छाम्य् अहं त्वत्तो यथावद् उपसंहृतिम् महाप्रलयसंज्ञां च कल्पान्ते च महामुने

Transliteration

śrotum icchāmy ahaṃ tvatto yathāvad upasaṃhṛtim mahāpralayasaṃjñāṃ ca kalpānte ca mahāmune

Translation

I wish to hear from you, O great sage, the true account—exactly as it is—of dissolution: both the reabsorption of the cosmos and that Great Dissolution called Mahāpralaya at the end of a kalpa.

Word by Word

• श्रोतुम्: to hear
• श्रोतुम्: Prayojana (Purpose/प्रयोजन)
• Type: Verb
• Root: श्रु (धातु) + तुमुन् (कृदन्त)
• Form: कृदन्त (infinitive/तुमुन्), प्रयोजनार्थ

• इच्छामि: I wish
• इच्छामि: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: इष् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), उत्तमपुरुष (1st), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अहम्: I
• अहम्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• त्वत्तः: from you
• त्वत्तः: Apadana (Source/अपादान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: सर्वनाम, पञ्चमी (5th/अपादान), एकवचन

• यथावत्: properly/as it should be
• यथावत्: Kriya-visheshaṇa (Adverbial/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: यथावत् (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb)

• उपसंहृतिम्: the dissolution/withdrawal
• उपसंहृतिम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: उप-सम्-हृ (धातु) + क्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/कर्म), एकवचन

• महाप्रलयसंज्ञाम्: called ‘the great dissolution’
• महाप्रलयसंज्ञाम्: Karma (Object-qualifier/कर्म-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: महाप्रलय (प्रातिपदिक) + संज्ञा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (महाप्रलय इति संज्ञा यस्याः), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; ‘उपसंहृतिम्’ इति विशेष्यस्य विशेषणम्

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

• कल्पान्ते: at the end of a kalpa
• कल्पान्ते: Adhikarana (Time/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कल्पान्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: तत्पुरुष (कल्पस्य अन्तः), पुल्लिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/अधिकरण), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (conjunction)

• महामुने: O great sage
• महामुने: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महामुनि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: कर्मधारय (महान् मुनिः), पुल्लिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन

Speaker

Maitreya (addressing Sage Parāśara)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Maitreya

Topic: Request for a precise explanation of upasaṃhṛti (reabsorption) and Mahāpralaya at kalpa’s end.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: earnest, truth-seeking

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Kalpa

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Understanding dissolution (upasaṃhāra) and Mahāpralaya reveals the impermanence of manifest worlds within the kalpa-cycle.

Vedantic Theme: Moksha

Application: Contemplate impermanence to reduce attachment, and orient life toward the imperishable Lord rather than transient structures.

Vishishtadvaita: Even as worlds dissolve, the supreme Lord remains the sustaining reality into whom all is reabsorbed—transcendent yet the inner support of the cosmos.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: shanta

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Maitreya
• Parāśara
• Mahāpralaya

FAQs

What is the significance of Mahāpralaya in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse frames Mahāpralaya as the definitive, kalpa-ending dissolution—an event Maitreya asks to be explained in a precise, authoritative sequence.

How does Sage Parāśara explain cosmic dissolution (upasaṃhṛti) in this dialogue?

Maitreya explicitly requests an orderly and accurate exposition from Parāśara, establishing that the teaching will be systematic rather than merely poetic or symbolic.

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

Even before Vishnu is named in the verse, the topic of dissolution in the Vishnu Purana implies Vishnu’s sovereignty over cosmic cycles—creation, maintenance, and reabsorption—central to Vaishnava metaphysics.