Shloka 2

Description of Continents, Oceans, Regions, and the Measure of the World

Devanagari script

घृततोयः समुद्रोथ दधिमंडोदकोपरः । सुरोदसागरश्चैव तथान्यो दुग्धसागरः

Transliteration

ghṛtatoyaḥ samudrotha dadhimaṃḍodakoparaḥ | surodasāgaraścaiva tathānyo dugdhasāgaraḥ

Translation

Luego está el océano cuyas aguas son ghee; otro cuyas aguas son la esencia cremosa del cuajado; asimismo el océano de surā (licor fermentado); y otro más: el océano de leche.

Word by Word

• ghṛta-toyaḥ: ghee-filled (as water)
• ghṛta-toyaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ghṛta (घृत प्रातिपदिक) + toya (तोय प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); कर्मधारय: 'ghee-water' = 'having ghee as water' (qualifying 'samudraḥ')

• samudraḥ: ocean
• samudraḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samudra (समुद्र प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• atha: then/next
• atha: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: atha (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle/adverb (अनन्तरार्थक अव्यय) indicating sequence

• dadhi-maṇḍa-udaka-uparaḥ: the next (ocean) of curd-cream water
• dadhi-maṇḍa-udaka-uparaḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (elliptical: 'is/exists')
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dadhi (दधि प्रातिपदिक) + maṇḍa (मण्ड प्रातिपदिक) + udaka (उदक प्रातिपदिक) + upara (उपर प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); बहुपद-तत्पुरुष: 'with water (udaka) of curd-cream (dadhi-maṇḍa)' + 'upper/next' → 'the next (ocean) whose water is curd-cream'

• sura-uda-sāgaraḥ: the ocean of liquor (surā)
• sura-uda-sāgaraḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (elliptical: 'is/exists')
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (सुरा प्रातिपदिक) + uda (उद/उदक-सम्बद्ध प्रातिपदिक) + sāgara (सागर प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुष: 'ocean (sāgara) of surā-liquid (sura-uda)'

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)

• eva: indeed
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध) / emphasis
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: Particle (निपात), emphatic

• tathā: likewise
• tathā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Adverb (क्रियाविशेषण अव्यय)

• anyaḥ: another
• anyaḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (elliptical)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: anya (अन्य प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); used substantively with implied 'sāgaraḥ'

• dugdha-sāgaraḥ: the milk-ocean
• dugdha-sāgaraḥ: Karta (कर्ता) (elliptical)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dugdha (दुग्ध प्रातिपदिक) + sāgara (सागर प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); तत्पुरुष: 'ocean of milk'

Speaker

Unspecified (narratorial description within the Svarga-khaṇḍa context)

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Geographic Context

Type: celestial_realm

Sandhi Resolution Notes

Sandhi Resolution Notes: samudrotha→samudraḥ atha; dadhimaṃḍodakoparaḥ→dadhi-maṇḍa-udaka-uparaḥ; surodasāgaraḥ→sura-uda-sāgaraḥ; sāgaraścaiva→sāgaraḥ ca eva; tathānyo→tathā anyaḥ.

FAQs

What is being described in this verse?

It lists several mythic oceans described in Purāṇic cosmography—oceans composed of ghee, the refined essence of curd (maṇḍa), surā (fermented liquor), and milk.

Does the verse have a devotional (bhakti) teaching or is it primarily descriptive?

This verse is primarily descriptive, contributing to the Padma Purāṇa’s cosmological geography rather than giving a direct bhakti or ethical injunction.

Why do Purāṇas describe multiple ‘oceans’ of different substances?

Such descriptions function as symbolic and cosmographic mapping of the universe in Purāṇic literature, presenting a layered, wondrous cosmos and conveying abundance and sacred order through archetypal substances.