Shloka 1
Hari in the Primeval Waters: Prakṛti as Veil, the ‘Sleep’ Metaphor, and Brahmā’s Lotus-Channel Inquiry
नाम दशमो ऽध्यायः श्रीकृष्ण उवाच / पुरुषाख्यो हरिः साक्षाद्भगवान्पुरुषोत्तमः / शिश्येत्वण्डोदक विष्णुर्नृणां साहस्रवत्सरम् / लक्ष्मीश्चोदकरूपेण शय्यारूपेण भोण्डजा
nāma daśamo 'dhyāyaḥ śrīkṛṣṇa uvāca / puruṣākhyo hariḥ sākṣādbhagavānpuruṣottamaḥ / śiśyetvaṇḍodaka viṣṇurnṛṇāṃ sāhasravatsaram / lakṣmīścodakarūpeṇa śayyārūpeṇa bhoṇḍajā
श्रीकृष्ण बोले—‘पुरुष’ नाम से प्रसिद्ध हरि साक्षात् भगवान्, पुरुषोत्तम हैं। अण्डोदक (ब्रह्माण्ड-जल) में विष्णु-रूप होकर वे सहस्र वर्षों तक शयन करते हैं; और उसी अण्ड से उत्पन्न लक्ष्मी जल-रूप तथा शय्या-रूप होकर उनकी सेवा करती हैं।
Śrī Kṛṣṇa (as narrator/teacher in this passage)
Concept: Hari as sākṣāt Bhagavān Puruṣottama; the cosmos rests in Him, with Lakṣmī as inseparable śakti sustaining His līlā of preservation.
Vedantic Theme: Īśvara–Śakti abheda (inseparability of Lord and power) and the causal ground (upādāna/ nimitta) implied in the pre-manifest waters.
Application: Contemplate Viṣṇu as the stable ground amid change; cultivate devotion by remembering Nārāyaṇa with Śrī as the ever-present compassionate power.
Primary Rasa: adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: shanta
Type: cosmic ocean
Related Themes: Garuda Purana (Brahma-khanda/cosmology passages on Nārāyaṇa in primordial waters)
FAQs
This verse presents aṇḍodaka as the primordial, cosmic setting in which Viṣṇu abides and from which ordered creation is understood to proceed—highlighting Viṣṇu as the sustaining Supreme Person (Puruṣottama).
It equates Hari with Bhagavān directly and names him Puruṣottama, emphasizing that the highest divine reality is personal, sovereign, and the ground of cosmic order.
Use it as a contemplative reminder that stability and order arise from aligning life with dharma and devotion—seeing the Divine as the inner support (like the sustaining waters) behind changing circumstances.