Shloka 40

प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्

Devanagari script

अन्धकारीकृते लोके नष्टे स्थावरजङ्गमे वर्षन्ति ते महामेघा वर्षाणाम् अधिकं शतम्

Transliteration

andhakārīkṛte loke naṣṭe sthāvarajaṅgame varṣanti te mahāmeghā varṣāṇām adhikaṃ śatam

Translation

જ્યારે લોક અંધકારથી ઢંકાઈ જાય છે અને સ્થાવર-જંગમ સર્વ નષ્ટ થાય છે, ત્યારે તે મહામેઘ સો વર્ષથી પણ વધુ સમય સુધી વરસતા રહે છે।

Word by Word

• अन्धकारीकृते: when it has been made dark
• अन्धकारीकृते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अन्धकार + कृ (धातु) → अन्धकारीकृत (कृदन्त-भूतकृदन्त/PPP)
• Form: सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (Locative singular; past passive participle used in locative absolute)

• लोके: in the world
• लोके: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: लोक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन (Masculine, Locative, Singular)

• नष्टे: when (it is) destroyed
• नष्टे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नश् (धातु) → नष्ट (कृदन्त-भूतकृदन्त/PPP)
• Form: सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; भूतकृदन्त (Locative singular; past passive participle used in locative absolute)

• स्थावरजङ्गमे: when the immobile and mobile (creation) is destroyed
• स्थावरजङ्गमे: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: स्थावर + जङ्गम (प्रातिपदिक; स्थावर=immobile + जङ्गम=mobile)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th), एकवचन; द्वन्द्वसमास (Neuter, Locative, Singular; dvandva ‘immobile and mobile beings’)

• वर्षन्ति: rain
• वर्षन्ति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वृष् (धातु)
• Form: लट् (वर्तमान), प्रथमपुरुष, बहुवचन; परस्मैपद (Present indicative, 3rd person plural, Parasmaipada)

• ते: they
• ते: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Plural)

• महामेघाः: great clouds
• महामेघाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: महा + मेघ (प्रातिपदिक; महा=great + मेघ=cloud)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन (Masculine, Nominative, Plural)

• वर्षाणाम्: of years
• वर्षाणाम्: Sambandha (Genitive/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th), बहुवचन (Neuter, Genitive, Plural)

• अधिकम्: more / additional
• अधिकम्: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अधिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; विशेषण (Neuter, Accusative, Singular; adjectival)

• शतम्: a hundred
• शतम्: Karma (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; परिमाण/काल-प्रमाण (Neuter, Accusative, Singular; measure)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Characters & Entities

• Sage Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Mahāmeghā (great clouds)

FAQs

What is the significance of the great clouds (mahāmeghāḥ) in the Vishnu Purana’s pralaya account?

They symbolize the divinely-ordered mechanism of dissolution: once the world is darkened and life-forms collapse, the pralaya-clouds rain for over a hundred years to inundate and erase remaining structures of manifested existence.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the process of dissolution in this passage?

Parāśara presents pralaya as sequential and lawful: darkness covers the world, all movable and immovable beings perish, and then prolonged rains from immense clouds complete the submergence of the cosmos.

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

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the narrative frames pralaya as occurring under supreme governance—implying that dissolution is not chaos but a return of all forms toward the ultimate reality upheld by Vishnu.