Shloka 14

प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्

Devanagari script

चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते क्षीणप्राये महीतले अनावृष्टिर् अतीवोग्रा जायते शतवार्षिकी

Transliteration

caturyugasahasrānte kṣīṇaprāye mahītale anāvṛṣṭir atīvogrā jāyate śatavārṣikī

Translation

At the end of a thousand cycles of the four yugas, when the earth is nearly spent, there arises a most dreadful failure of rain—an unbroken drought lasting a hundred years.

Word by Word

• चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते: at the end of a thousand four-yugas
• चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर् (संख्या/प्रातिपदिक) + युग (प्रातिपदिक) + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः—(चतुर्युगानां सहस्रस्य) अन्ते इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (समासान्ते सप्तमी)

• क्षीणप्राये: when (it is) almost exhausted
• क्षीणप्राये: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षीण (कृदन्त/ppp from √क्षि/क्षय) + प्राय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (महītale इत्यस्य)

• महीतले: on the surface of the earth
• महीतले: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही (प्रातिपदिक) + तल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः—मही-तलम् इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

• अनावृष्टिः: drought / absence of rain
• अनावृष्टिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्- (उपसर्ग/निषेध) + आवृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक; from √वृष् ‘to rain’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• अतीवोग्रा: exceedingly fierce
• अतीवोग्रा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतीव (अव्यय) + उग्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (अनावृष्टिः इत्यस्य); अतीव इति क्रियाविशेषण-प्रयोगः (intensifier)

• जायते: arises / occurs
• जायते: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्

• शतवार्षिकी: lasting a hundred years
• शतवार्षिकी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शत (प्रातिपदिक) + वार्षिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (अनावृष्टिः इत्यस्य); समासः—शत-वर्षाणां (परिमाण) वार्षिकी इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: The process and signs of cosmic dissolution (pralaya) at the end of Brahmā’s day.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Kalpa

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Even the seemingly stable earth is periodic and perishable, entering dissolution at ordained cosmic intervals.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Cultivate detachment from worldly security and orient life toward the imperishable Lord rather than transient conditions.

Vishishtadvaita: The world is real yet dependent (śeṣa) and periodically withdrawn by the Supreme who remains unchanged.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Characters & Entities

• Earth (Mahī)
• Yuga cycle (Caturyuga)

FAQs

What is the significance of the hundred-year drought in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents the prolonged drought as a major omen of end-cycle depletion—an environmental sign that the cosmic age has reached its limit and dissolution-processes are beginning.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the yuga-cycle’s culmination here?

Parāśara frames it in measurable cosmic time—after a thousand caturyuga cycles—then describes the earth becoming ‘nearly exhausted,’ expressed outwardly as an extreme, century-long failure of rains.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the Purana’s cosmology treats such time-cycles and dissolutions as operating within Vishnu’s supreme order—time and the world’s renewal ultimately depend on that transcendent sovereignty.