Srimad Bhagavatam — Panchama Skandha, Shloka 31
Rāhu, Eclipses, Antarikṣa, and the Seven Subterranean Heavens
Bila-svarga
ततोऽधस्तात्पाताले नागलोकपतयो वासुकिप्रमुखा: शङ्खकुलिकमहाशङ्खश्वेतधनञ्जयधृतराष्ट्रशङ्खचूडकम्बलाश्वतरदेवदत्तादयो महाभोगिनो महामर्षा निवसन्ति येषामु ह वै पञ्चसप्तदशशतसहस्रशीर्षाणां फणासु विरचिता महामणयो रोचिष्णव: पातालविवरतिमिरनिकरं स्वरोचिषा विधमन्ति ॥ ३१ ॥
tato ’dhastāt pātāle nāga-loka-patayo vāsuki-pramukhāḥ śaṅkha-kulika-mahāśaṅkha-śveta-dhanañjaya-dhṛtarāṣṭra-śaṅkhacūḍa-kambalāśvatara-devadattādayo mahā-bhogino mahāmarṣā nivasanti yeṣām u ha vai pañca-sapta-daśa-śata-sahasra-śīrṣāṇāṁ phaṇāsu viracitā mahā-maṇayo rociṣṇavaḥ pātāla-vivara-timira-nikaraṁ sva-rociṣā vidhamanti.
Debajo de Rasātala está Pātāla o Nāgaloka, donde habitan los señores de los nāgas, encabezados por Vāsuki: Śaṅkha, Kulika, Mahāśaṅkha, Śveta, Dhanañjaya, Dhṛtarāṣṭra, Śaṅkhacūḍa, Kambala, Aśvatara, Devadatta y otros. Son serpientes poderosas y coléricas, con innumerables capuchas: unas cinco, otras siete, otras diez, otras cien y otras mil. En sus capuchas brillan grandes gemas, cuya luz disipa la oscuridad de Pātāla.
Thus end the Bhaktivedanta purports of the Fifth Canto, Twenty-fourth Chapter, of Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam, entitled “The Subterranean Heavenly Planets.”
FAQs
This verse says that below the preceding regions lies Pātāla, inhabited by powerful Nāga rulers led by Vāsuki, whose radiant hood-jewels illuminate and dispel the darkness of Pātāla’s caverns.
In the Fifth Canto’s cosmology, Śukadeva systematically narrates the structure of the universe (including lower realms) to broaden Parīkṣit’s understanding of the Lord’s creation and governance beyond the earthly plane.
Just as the Nāga-jewels remove Pātāla’s darkness by their own light, devotion and true knowledge illuminate the heart from within, clearing ignorance without dependence on external validation.