Shloka 68
Cosmic Appointments, Viṣṇu’s Vibhūtis, Fourfold Operation, and the Symbolism of Ornaments and Weapons
भूतादिम् इन्द्रियादिं च द्विधाहंकारम् ईश्वरः बिभर्ति शङ्खरूपेण शार्ङ्गरूपेण च स्थितम्
bhūtādim indriyādiṃ ca dvidhāhaṃkāram īśvaraḥ bibharti śaṅkharūpeṇa śārṅgarūpeṇa ca sthitam
主宰神は法螺貝の相として、またシャールンガ弓の相として住し、諸元素の根源と諸感官の根源たる二重の我執原理を自らに保持される。
Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)
FAQs
This verse links them to cosmological principles: the Lord’s conch and bow symbolize the foundational sources from which the elements and the senses arise, showing Vishnu as the sustainer of creation’s inner structure.
He presents ahaṃkāra as having two orientations—one that gives rise to the elements (bhūtādi) and one that gives rise to the sense-faculties (indriyādi)—both ultimately upheld within Vishnu’s sovereignty.
Vishnu is portrayed not merely as a deity with emblems, but as Īśvara who contains and governs the causal principles of the cosmos—affirming a Vaishnava view of the Supreme as the ground of both matter and cognition.