Shloka 31
Gandhamādana-praveśa and the Sudden Storm (गन्धमादनप्रवेशः — चण्डवातवर्षवर्णनम्)
योजनानां शतं ब्रह्मन् पुनरुद्धरिता तदा | केन चैव प्रकारेण जगतो धरणी श्लुवा,युधिष्ठिरने पूछा--भगवन्! देवेश्वर भगवान् विष्णुने पातालमें सैकड़ों योजन नीचे डूबी हुई इस पृथ्वीका पुनरुद्धार किस प्रकार किया? आप इस कथाको यथार्थरूपसे और विस्तारपूर्वक कहिये। जगत्का भार धारण करनेवाली इस अचला पृथ्वीका उद्धार करनेके लिये उन्होंने किस उपायका अवलम्बन किया?
yudhiṣṭhira uvāca | yojanānāṃ śataṃ brahman punar uddhṛtā tadā | kena caiva prakāreṇa jagato dharaṇī sthitā ||
Yudhiṣṭhira said: “O Brahmin, the Earth was then lifted up again from a depth of a hundred yojanas. By what means, and in what manner, was this Earth—bearer of the world—restored and set firm? Please tell me this account truthfully and in detail.”
युधिछिर उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse models dhārmic inquiry: a ruler seeks truthful, detailed understanding of how cosmic stability is restored, implying that order (dharma) is upheld through right means and divine or righteous agency.
Yudhiṣṭhira asks a sage to explain how the Earth, said to have sunk to a great depth, was lifted and re-established—introducing a traditional account of the Earth’s rescue and restoration.