Shloka 11

भारतवर्षमहात्म्यम् — कर्मभूमित्वम्, नवभेदाः, कुलपर्वताः-नद्यः-जनपदाः, युगचक्रविशेषः, यज्ञपुरुषविष्णुपूजा

Devanagari script

नर्मदासुरसाद्याश् च नद्यो विन्ध्याद्रिनिर्गताः तापीपयोष्णीनिर्विन्ध्याप्रमुखा ऋक्षसंभवाः

Transliteration

narmadāsurasādyāś ca nadyo vindhyādrinirgatāḥ tāpīpayoṣṇīnirvindhyāpramukhā ṛkṣasaṃbhavāḥ

Translation

നർമദാ, സുരസാ മുതലായ നദികൾ വിന്ധ്യപർവതത്തിൽ നിന്നു പുറപ്പെടുന്നു; കൂടാതെ ഋക്ഷ (സത്പുര) പർവതങ്ങളിൽ നിന്നു താപീ, പയോഷ്ണീ, നിർവിന്ധ്യാ മുതലായ പ്രധാന നദികൾ ഉദ്ഭവിക്കുന്നു.

Word by Word

• नर्मदा-सुरसा-आद्याः: (rivers) such as Narmada and Surasa
• नर्मदा-सुरसा-आद्याः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नर्मदा (प्रातिपदिक) + सुरसा (प्रातिपदिक) + आदि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्व (नदी-नामसमुच्चय) + आद्य

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चयार्थक-अव्यय

• नद्यः: rivers
• नद्यः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• विन्ध्य-अद्रि-निर्गताः: issuing from the Vindhya mountain
• विन्ध्य-अद्रि-निर्गताः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: विन्ध्य (प्रातिपदिक) + अद्रि (प्रातिपदिक) + निर्गत (कृदन्त)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (विन्ध्याद्रेः निर्गताः)

• तापी-पयोष्णी-निर्विन्ध्या-प्रमुखाः: with Tapi, Payoshni, Nirvindhya as the chief ones
• तापी-पयोष्णी-निर्विन्ध्या-प्रमुखाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तापी (प्रातिपदिक) + पयोष्णी (प्रातिपदिक) + निर्विन्ध्या (प्रातिपदिक) + प्रमुख (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; समासः—द्वन्द्व (नदी-नामसमुच्चय) + प्रमुख (chief among)

• ऋक्ष-संभवाः: arising from (mount) Riksha
• ऋक्ष-संभवाः: Visheshana (Qualifier/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ऋक्ष (प्रातिपदिक) + संभव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (ऋक्षात् संभवाः)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Continuation of Bhārata-varṣa river-sources from major mountain ranges.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: descriptive

Cosmological Context

Cosmic Hierarchy: Varshas

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Bhakti Type: Shanta

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Sage Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Vindhya mountain range
• Ṛkṣa (Satpura) mountains
• Narmadā river
• Surasā river
• Tāpi (Tapti) river
• Payōṣṇī river
• Nirvindhyā river

FAQs

What is the significance of listing rivers like Narmadā and Tāpi in the Vishnu Purana?

The river-list is part of Bhuvana-kosha (sacred geography), presenting Bharata-varsha as an ordered, sanctified landscape within the divinely sustained cosmos.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the world’s structure in this section?

Parāśara describes mountains and the rivers that rise from them, using geographic detail to show a coherent cosmic arrangement—nature functioning in stable patterns under higher law (dharma).

The theological importance of Lord Viṣṇu in this context?

Even when the verse is descriptive, the Purana’s frame is that the world’s order—its mountains, waters, and regions—ultimately depends on Viṣṇu as the Supreme sustaining reality.