Shloka 25

उपसंहारः, वैष्णवपुराण-प्रशंसा, फलश्रुति, परम्परा-प्रवहः (पाठ-श्रवण-फलम्)

Devanagari script

सरीसृपैर् विहंगैश् च पलाशाद्यैर् महीरुहैः वनाद्रिसागरसरित्पातालैः सधरादिभिः

Transliteration

sarīsṛpair vihaṃgaiś ca palāśādyair mahīruhaiḥ vanādrisāgarasaritpātālaiḥ sadharādibhiḥ

Translation

It is filled with creeping creatures and birds, with great trees such as the palāśa and others; with forests, mountains, oceans, and rivers; with the nether regions (Pātāla) and with the supporting earth and its various divisions.

Word by Word

• सरीसृपैः: by reptiles
• सरीसृपैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सरीसृप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

• विहंगैः: by birds
• विहंगैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विहंग (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन

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

• पलाशाद्यैः: by palāśa trees and others
• पलाशाद्यैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पलाश (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (पलाश-आदि = 'palāśa and the rest')

• महीरुहैः: by trees (earth-growers)
• महीरुहैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही (प्रातिपदिक) + रुह (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (मही-रुह = 'earth-growing', i.e., trees)

• वनाद्रिसागरसरित्पातालैः: by forests, mountains, oceans, rivers, and netherworlds
• वनाद्रिसागरसरित्पातालैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वन (प्रातिपदिक) + अद्रि (प्रातिपदिक) + सागर (प्रातिपदिक) + सरित् (प्रातिपदिक) + पाताल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (वन+अद्रि+सागर+सरित्+पाताल)

• सधरादिभिः: by the earth and others
• सधरादिभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सधरा (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/करण), बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः (सधरा-आदि = 'with the earth and the rest')

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Description of the world’s fullness—beings, vegetation, and underworlds—within the Lord’s ordered cosmos

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: revealing

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: The world is a complete, manifold ecosystem—animals, birds, trees, forests, mountains, oceans, rivers, and nether realms—integrated within a single ordered sovereignty.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Practice reverence for all life and environments as parts of a sacred, sustained order; cultivate stewardship rather than exploitation.

Vishishtadvaita: Multiplicity is affirmed as real and meaningful, yet held together by one supreme sustaining Lord (unity-in-diversity).

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Lakshmi Presence: Bhumi

Characters & Entities

• Earth (Bhūmi)
• Pātāla
• Forests
• Mountains
• Oceans
• Rivers
• Palāśa tree
• Birds
• Reptiles

FAQs

What is the significance of listing forests, mountains, oceans, rivers, and Pātāla in the Vishnu Purana?

The verse frames the world as a complete, ordered totality—from surface life (birds, reptiles, trees) to vast features (oceans, mountains) and even subterranean realms (Pātāla), emphasizing cosmic completeness under a single sustaining order.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the world’s diversity in this chapter?

By enumerating living beings and geographic strata together, Parāśara presents diversity as structured—not random—where every layer of existence belongs to an integrated cosmological map.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana’s cosmology implies an overarching sovereignty: the many realms and beings are intelligible as one world because they are sustained and governed by the Supreme Reality (Vishnu) as the inner ruler.