कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
एताश्षान्याश्व नद्यो5हं पृथिव्यां या नरोत्तम । परिक्रामन् प्रपश्यामि तस्य कुक्षौ महात्मन:
etāś cānyāś ca nadyo 'haṃ pṛthivyāṃ yā narottama | parikrāman prapaśyāmi tasya kukṣau mahātmanaḥ ||
Vaiśampāyana dijo: «Oh el mejor de los hombres, mientras me desplazaba, vi dentro del vientre de aquel ser magnánimo todos estos ríos—y también los demás ríos que corren sobre la tierra».
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse evokes a cosmic perspective: the entire sacred landscape (symbolized by the rivers of the earth) can be contained within a higher, mysterious reality. It underscores humility before the vastness of dharma and the world-order, where the familiar geography becomes part of a larger, awe-inspiring vision.
The narrator describes moving about and seeing, within the belly of a great being, the rivers of the earth (and by implication the whole world). It is a marvel-episode in which ordinary spatial boundaries are overturned, presenting an interior ‘world’ that contains the external world.