Shloka 41
Indrajit’s Binding, Restoration by Viśalyā, and Counsel Restraining Rāvaṇa (Āraṇyaka Parva 273)
“एक हजार चतुर्युगी समाप्त होनेपर उपर्युक्त एकार्णवके जलमें यह पृथ्वी डूब जाती है। तत्पश्चात् नारायण नामसे प्रसिद्ध भगवान् श्रीहरि उस एकार्णवके जलमें शयन करनेके हेतु अपने लिये निशाकालोचित अन्धकार (तमोगुण)-से व्याप्त महारात्रिका निर्माण करते हैं। उन भगवानके सहसौरों नेत्र, सहस्नों चरण और सहस्रों मस्तक हैं। वे अन्तर्यामी पुरुष हैं और इन्द्रियातीत होनेपर भी शयन करनेकी इच्छासे उन शेषनागको अपना पर्यक बनाते हैं जो सहस्रों फणोंसे विकटाकार दिखायी देते हैं। वे शेषनाग एक सहस्र प्रचण्ड सूर्योंके समूहकी भाँति अनन्त एवं असीम प्रभा धारण करते हैं। उनकी कान्ति कुन्द-पुष्प, चन्द्रमा, मुक्ताहार, गोदुग्ध, कमलनाल तथा कुमुद-कुसुमके समान उज्ज्वल है। उन्हींकी शय्या बनाकर भगवान् श्रीहरि शयन करते हैं ।। सत्त्वोद्रेकात् प्रबुद्धस्तु शून्यं लोकमपश्यत । इमं चोदाहरन्त्यत्र श्लोक॑ नारायणं प्रति,“तत्पश्चात् सृष्टिकालमें सत्त्गुणके आधिक्यसे भगवान् योगनिद्रासे जाग उठे। जागनेपर उन्हें यह समस्त लोक सूना दिखायी दिया। महर्षिगण भगवान् नारायणके सम्बन्धमें यहाँ इस श्लोकका उदाहरण दिया करते हैं--
bhīmasena uvāca | eka-sahasra-caturyugī-samāpte uparyukta-ekārṇava-jale iyaṃ pṛthivī nimajjati | tataḥ nārāyaṇa-nāmnā prasiddho bhagavān śrīhariḥ tasmin ekārṇava-jale śayana-hetor ātmanaḥ niśā-kālocita-tamoguṇa-vyāptāṃ mahārātriṃ nirmimīte | tasya bhagavataḥ sahasrākṣāḥ sahasra-pādāḥ sahasra-śīrṣāś ca | sa antar-yāmī puruṣaḥ, indriyātīto 'pi śayana-icchayā tān śeṣa-nāgān svaparyaṅkaṃ karoti ye sahasra-phaṇair vikaṭākārā dṛśyante | te śeṣa-nāgāḥ eka-sahasra-pracaṇḍa-sūrya-saṅghavat anantām asīmāṃ ca prabhāṃ dhārayanti | teṣāṃ kāntiḥ kunda-puṣpa-candra-muktāhāra-go-dugdha-kamala-nāla-kumuda-kusuma-samānā ujjvalā | teṣām eva śayyāṃ kṛtvā bhagavān śrīhariḥ śete || sattvodrekāt prabuddhas tu śūnyaṃ lokam apaśyat | imaṃ codāharanty atra ślokaṃ nārāyaṇaṃ prati ||
Bhīmasena said: When a thousand cycles of four yugas have come to an end, this earth sinks into the waters of the single cosmic ocean. Then the Blessed Lord Śrī Hari—known as Nārāyaṇa—creates for himself a vast ‘Great Night’, an all-enveloping darkness suited to the time of dissolution, so that he may rest upon those waters. That Lord is the inner ruler of all beings: he is described as having a thousand eyes, a thousand feet, and a thousand heads. Though beyond the senses, he chooses to lie down, making the mighty Śeṣa-serpent—terrible in form with its thousand hoods—his couch. Śeṣa shines with an immeasurable, endless radiance, like a mass of a thousand blazing suns; his brilliance is said to be as pure and bright as jasmine, the moon, a pearl necklace, cow’s milk, lotus-stalk, and the white water-lily. Upon that very bed the Lord reclines. Then, when the time of creation returns and the quality of sattva rises, the Lord awakens from yogic sleep; on waking, he beholds the worlds as empty. Therefore the sages cite here this verse concerning Nārāyaṇa.
भीमसेन उवाच
Educational Q&A
The passage frames cosmic dissolution and renewal as governed by Nārāyaṇa: tamas predominates in the Great Night (rest/dissolution), and sattva rises at creation (awakening/manifestation). Ethically, it encourages humility and steadiness—worlds arise and pass, but the inner ruler (antaryāmin) remains constant.
Bhīma describes a cosmological scene: after a vast time-cycle ends, the earth is submerged in the cosmic ocean; Nārāyaṇa rests on Śeṣa during the Great Night; later, as sattva predominates, he awakens from yogic sleep and sees the worlds empty, prompting sages to cite a verse about him.