Shloka 9

शिशुमार-रूपं, ध्रुवबन्धनम्, वृष्टिचक्र-पालनम्, नारायणाधारत्वम्

Devanagari script

विवस्वान् अंशुभिस् तीक्ष्णैर् आदाय जगतो जलम् सोमे मुञ्चत्य् अथेन्दुश् च वायुनाडीमयैर् दिवि नालैर् विक्षिपते ऽभ्रेषु धूमाग्न्यनिलमूर्तिषु

Transliteration

vivasvān aṃśubhis tīkṣṇair ādāya jagato jalam some muñcaty athenduś ca vāyunāḍīmayair divi nālair vikṣipate 'bhreṣu dhūmāgnyanilamūrtiṣu

Translation

വിവസ്വാൻ (സൂര്യൻ) തീക്ഷ്ണ കിരണങ്ങളാൽ ലോകത്തിലെ ജലം ആകർഷിച്ച് സോമയിൽ (ചന്ദ്രനിൽ) വിടുന്നു. തുടർന്ന് ഇന്ദു (ചന്ദ്രൻ) ആകാശത്തിലെ വായു-നാടികളായ നാളങ്ങളിലൂടെ ആ ജലം മേഘങ്ങളിൽ വിതറുന്നു—പുക, അഗ്നി, ചലിക്കുന്ന കാറ്റ് എന്നീ രൂപങ്ങൾ ധരിച്ചു।

Word by Word

• विवस्वान्: Vivasvān (the Sun)
• विवस्वान्: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विवस्वत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• अंशुभिः: with rays
• अंशुभिः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अंशु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• तीक्ष्णैः: sharp, intense
• तीक्ष्णैः: Karana (Qualifier of instrument/करणविशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: तीक्ष्ण (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; अंशुभिः इति विशेषण

• आदाय: having taken
• आदाय: Kriya-viseshana (Gerundial modifier/क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Verb
• Root: आ-दा (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त; ‘having taken’

• जगतः: of the world
• जगतः: Shashthi-sambandha (Genitive/षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जगत् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• जलम्: water
• जलम्: Karman (Object/कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन

• सोमे: in Soma (the Moon)
• सोमे: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: सोम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• मुञ्चति: releases
• मुञ्चति: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: मुच् (धातु)
• Form: लट्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• अथ: then
• अथ: Sambandha (Discourse adverb/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अथ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अनुक्रम/आरम्भसूचक (then/thereupon)

• इन्दुः: the Moon
• इन्दुः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: इन्दु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (Connector/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय

• वायुनाडीमयैः: by means of (things) made of wind-channels
• वायुनाडीमयैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: वायु (प्रातिपदिक) + नाडी (प्रातिपदिक) + मय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन; तत्पुरुषः/उपपद-समासः ‘वायु-नाडीभिः मयाः’ (made of wind-channels)

• दिवि: in the sky
• दिवि: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: दिव् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• नालैः: through tubes/channels
• नालैः: Karana (Instrument/करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: नाल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया, बहुवचन

• विक्षिपते: scatters/disperses
• विक्षिपते: Kriya (Action/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: वि-क्षिप् (धातु)
• Form: लट्, प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; आत्मनेपद

• अभ्रेषु: in the clouds
• अभ्रेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अभ्र (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचन

• धूमाग्न्यनिलमूर्तिषु: in forms consisting of smoke, fire, and wind
• धूमाग्न्यनिलमूर्तिषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: धूम (प्रातिपदिक) + अग्नि (प्रातिपदिक) + अनिल (प्रातिपदिक) + मूर्ति (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, बहुवचन; समाहारार्थक-समासः (धूम-अग्नि-अनिल-रूपाः मूर्तयः)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Mechanism of evaporation and rain: Sun-to-Moon transfer and dispersal into clouds via wind-conduits.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: revealing

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Waters are drawn up by the Sun, deposited into the Moon, and then distributed through wind-channel conduits into clouds, manifesting as smoke, fire, and moving air forms.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: See science and sacred order as complementary; practice mindful reverence for air-water cycles and the interdependence of elements.

Vishishtadvaita: Elemental processes are real and ordered, functioning as the Lord’s embodied cosmos (acit) under His immanent governance.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Narayana

Antaryamin: Yes

Characters & Entities

• Vivasvān (Sun)
• Soma/Indu (Moon)
• Vāyu (Wind)
• Abhra (Clouds)

FAQs

What is the significance of the Sun and Moon in the Vishnu Purana’s description of the water cycle?

This verse presents the Sun as drawing up terrestrial waters and the Moon as redistributing them into clouds, portraying celestial bodies as instruments of cosmic regulation.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the movement of water into clouds?

He describes wind-made “channels” in the sky through which the Moon disperses the collected water into clouds, expressing a Purāṇic mechanism for atmospheric circulation.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when not named in the verse, the Vishnu Purana frames such orderly natural operations as part of Vishnu’s sustaining sovereignty—cosmic processes functioning through divinely governed order.