Shloka 19
प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्
समुद्रान् सरितः शैलान् शैलप्रस्रवणानि च पातालेषु च यत् तोयं तत् सर्वं नयति क्षयम्
samudrān saritaḥ śailān śailaprasravaṇāni ca pātāleṣu ca yat toyaṃ tat sarvaṃ nayati kṣayam
It draws toward dissolution the waters of the oceans, the rivers, the mountains and their streaming springs—and even whatever waters lie in the nether realms—bringing them all to wasting away.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: The scope of pralaya across realms—oceans, mountains, rivers, and even Pātāla waters.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Creation Stage: Kalpa
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: Dissolution is comprehensive within the universe: waters of oceans, rivers, mountains, and even subterranean realms are drawn toward cessation.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Use contemplation of impermanence to lessen fear and deepen surrender (prapatti) to the Lord who transcends cosmic change.
Vishishtadvaita: All realms form an ordered hierarchy within the Lord’s cosmic body; their dissolution is a retraction of His manifested modes, not the cessation of His being.
Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman
FAQs
The verse portrays all waters—surface and subterranean—as subject to a higher cosmic regulation that ultimately leads them toward diminution and dissolution, emphasizing ordered governance of nature.
He frames kṣaya as a universal process affecting oceans, rivers, springs, and even Pātāla’s waters—showing that nothing in the cosmos is exempt from cyclical decline and transformation.
Even when not named directly, the Vishnu Purana’s cosmology assumes Vishnu as the Supreme Reality whose sovereignty underwrites the laws that govern creation, maintenance, and dissolution.