Shloka 23
प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्
ततो निर्दग्धवृक्षाम्बु त्रैलोक्यम् अखिलं द्विज भवत्य् एषा च वसुधा कूर्मपृष्ठोपमाकृतिः
tato nirdagdhavṛkṣāmbu trailokyam akhilaṃ dvija bhavaty eṣā ca vasudhā kūrmapṛṣṭhopamākṛtiḥ
Thereafter, O twice-born one, the entire threefold world is marked by scorched trees and drying waters; and this very Earth assumes a form resembling the back of a tortoise.
Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Visible signs on Earth during pralaya
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas
Concept: As trees are burned and waters dry, Earth becomes like a tortoise’s back—hard, bare, and altered—signaling the withdrawal of life-supporting conditions.
Vedantic Theme: Maya
Application: Meditate on the fragility of ecological supports and cultivate gratitude, restraint, and devotion while conditions for sādhana remain.
Vishishtadvaita: Nature’s forms are modes (prakāra) of Brahman and can be reconfigured by His will; the simile hints at the Lord’s underlying support even as surface forms change.
Vishnu Form: Hari
FAQs
It conveys a cosmographic image of the Earth’s altered contour during cosmic upheaval—an emblematic description used by Parāśara to communicate large-scale transformation in the world-order.
He points to ecological and elemental disruption—trees becoming scorched and waters drying—indicating a systemic change affecting the entire trailokya, consistent with cyclical pralaya descriptions.
Even when not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such cosmic transformations as occurring within Vishnu’s supreme governance—creation, stability, and dissolution unfold under His sovereignty.