Srimad Bhagavatam — Dvitiya Skandha, Shloka 26
The First Step in God Realization: The Glory of Hearing and the Virāṭ-Rūpa Meditation
पातालमेतस्य हि पादमूलं पठन्ति पार्ष्णिप्रपदे रसातलम् । महातलं विश्वसृजोऽथ गुल्फौ तलातलं वै पुरुषस्य जङ्घे ॥ २६ ॥
pātālam etasya hi pāda-mūlaṁ paṭhanti pārṣṇi-prapade rasātalam mahātalaṁ viśva-sṛjo ’tha gulphau talātalaṁ vai puruṣasya jaṅghe
Les sages enseignent que Pātāla forme la plante des pieds du Seigneur universel; Rasātala, ses talons et ses orteils; Mahātala, ses chevilles; et Talātala, ses tibias.
Outside the bodily existence of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, the manifested cosmic existence has no reality. Everything and anything of the manifested world rests on Him, as confirmed in the Bhagavad-gītā (9.4) , but that does not imply that everything and anything in the vision of a materialist is the Supreme Personality. The conception of the universal form of the Lord gives a chance to the materialist to think of the Supreme Lord, but the materialist must know for certain that his visualization of the world in a spirit of lording over it is not God realization. The materialistic view of exploitation of the material resources is occasioned by the illusion of the external energy of the Lord, and as such if anyone wants to realize the Supreme Truth by conceiving of the universal form of the Lord, he must cultivate the service attitude. Unless the service attitude is revived, the conception of virāṭ realization will have very little effect on the seer. The transcendental Lord, in any conception of His form, is never a part of the material creation. He keeps His identity as Supreme Spirit in all circumstances and is never affected by the three material qualities, for everything material is contaminated. The Lord always exists by His internal energy.
FAQs
This verse maps Pātāla, Rasātala, Mahātala, and Talātala to the feet and lower legs of the Universal Form, presenting them as parts of the Lord’s cosmic body for contemplative meditation.
In Canto 2, Śukadeva teaches Parīkṣit Mahārāja a practical meditation: seeing the cosmos as the Lord’s virāṭ-rūpa helps the mind become steady and devotional, moving from material observation toward God realization.
Practice reverent vision: remember that all regions of existence are within the Lord’s order, which reduces fear and pride and supports a daily habit of mindful devotion and humility.