Shloka 7

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

Devanagari script

ज्ञातश् चतुर्विधो राशिः शक्तिश् च त्रिविधा गुरो विज्ञाता चापि कार्त्स्न्येन त्रिविधा भावभावना

Transliteration

jñātaś caturvidho rāśiḥ śaktiś ca trividhā guro vijñātā cāpi kārtsnyena trividhā bhāvabhāvanā

Translation

O Guru, the aggregate has been understood as fourfold, and power (śakti) as threefold. Fully, I have also comprehended the threefold bhāva-bhāvanā, by which beings and states are conceived and brought to manifestation.

Word by Word

• jñātaḥ: known
• jñātaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: jñāta (√jñā धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृत्), पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; adjectival predicate

• caturvidhaḥ: fourfold
• caturvidhaḥ: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: catur + vidha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (संख्यापूर्वक-निर्धारण), पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; qualifies rāśiḥ

• rāśiḥ: aggregate; category
• rāśiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rāśi (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• śaktiḥ: power
• śaktiḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śakti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात (conjunction)

• trividhā: threefold
• trividhā: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri + vidhā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (संख्यापूर्वक-निर्धारण), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; qualifies śaktiḥ

• guro: O teacher
• guro: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: guru (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुल्लिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन

• vijñātā: fully understood/known
• vijñātā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vijñātā (√jñā धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (क्त-प्रत्यय, भूतकर्मणि/भूतकृत्), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; predicate with bhāvabhāvanā

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयबोधक-निपात (conjunction)

• api: also
• api: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अपि (also/even)

• kārtsnyena: completely; in entirety
• kārtsnyena: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kārtsnya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd), एकवचन; करण/प्रकारार्थे (by/with completeness)

• trividhā: threefold
• trividhā: Visheshana (Adjectival modifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tri + vidhā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (संख्यापूर्वक-निर्धारण), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन; qualifies bhāvabhāvanā

• bhāva-bhāvanā: contemplation/realization of being; cultivation of states
• bhāva-bhāvanā: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāva + bhāvanā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: समास: तत्पुरुष (षष्ठी/कर्मधारय-सम्भाव्य; 'भावस्य भावना' / 'भाव-भावना'), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), एकवचन

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in instruction to Maitreya within the cosmological discourse)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Maitreya

Topic: Summary of categories taught: fourfold aggregate (rāśi), threefold śakti, and threefold bhāva-bhāvanā (disposition/ideation leading to manifestation)

Teaching: Philosophical

Quality: authoritative

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Reality and experience can be analyzed into knowable categories (aggregate, powers, and dispositions) whose full comprehension supports liberation-oriented discernment.

Vedantic Theme: Moksha

Application: Use disciplined study and reflection to map experience into clear categories, reducing confusion and strengthening detachment.

Vishishtadvaita: Analytic categories are meaningful because they are real modes (prakāra) within the Lord’s ordered cosmos, not mere illusion.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Jagat Karana: Yes

FAQs

What is the significance of the fourfold 'rāśi' in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse signals a structured cosmological taxonomy: reality is presented as an analyzable aggregate with four divisions, used to map the universe in an ordered, knowable way under divine governance.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the threefold śakti (power)?

He frames śakti as triadic—an explanatory tool for how the cosmos operates through distinct modes of potency—so the student can understand manifestation as orderly and intelligible rather than random.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the Purana’s cosmology is anchored in the idea that the universe and its powers are grounded in the Supreme Reality—Vishnu—whose sovereign potencies sustain and explain creation.