Shloka 112
सूर्यरथ-कालचक्र-आयनविभागः, संध्योपासनम्, देवयान-पितृयानम्, विष्णुपद-गङ्गावतरणम्
मेरुपृष्ठे पतत्य् उच्चैर् निष्क्रान्ता शशिमण्डलात् जगतः पावनार्थाय या प्रयाति चतुर्दिशम्
merupṛṣṭhe pataty uccair niṣkrāntā śaśimaṇḍalāt jagataḥ pāvanārthāya yā prayāti caturdiśam
चन्द्रमण्डल से निकलकर वह ऊँचाई से मेरु के पृष्ठ पर गिरती है और जगत् के पावन हेतु चारों दिशाओं में प्रवाहित होती है।
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
FAQs
Meru functions as the cosmic axis: the verse depicts sacred waters descending onto Meru and then distributing to the four quarters, showing how the universe is ordered and sustained through a central, divinely structured geography.
Parāśara frames the river’s movement as purposeful—“for the purification of the worlds”—linking its celestial origin and fourfold diffusion to a cosmic, dharma-supporting function rather than merely a terrestrial phenomenon.
Even when Viṣṇu is not named, the Vishnu Purana presents cosmic systems—heavenly spheres, Meru, and purifying flows—as operating within Viṣṇu’s sovereign order, where purification and cosmic stability ultimately serve the maintenance of dharma under the Supreme Reality.