Shloka 38

Nārada’s Questions and Brahmā’s Reply: Vāsudeva as the Source; Sarga–Visarga; Virāṭ-rūpa Mapping

Devanagari script

भूर्लोक: कल्पित: पद्‍भ्यां भुवर्लोकोऽस्य नाभित: । हृदा स्वर्लोक उरसा महर्लोको महात्मन: ॥ ३८ ॥

Transliteration

bhūrlokaḥ kalpitaḥ padbhyāṁ bhuvarloko ’sya nābhitaḥ hṛdā svarloka urasā maharloko mahātmanaḥ

Translation

ဘူရ္လောကနှင့် အောက်လောကများသည် ဘုရား၏ ခြေထောက်တွင်၊ ဘုဝရ္လောကသည် နာဗီတွင်၊ စွဝရ္လောကနှင့် မဟရ္လောကတို့သည် ဟൃദယနှင့် ရင်ဘတ်တွင် တည်ရှိသည်။

Synonyms

• bhūḥ-lokaḥ: Bhūrloka (earthly realm)
• bhūḥ-lokaḥ: Karta (कर्ता; topic/predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhūḥ (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष/सम्बन्ध-तत्पुरुष (earth-world)

• kalpitaḥ: is fashioned/arranged
• kalpitaḥ: Kriyā (क्रिया; predicative PPP)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kalp (धातु) + kta (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त-कृदन्त), Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• padbhyām: from the two feet
• padbhyām: Apādāna (अपादान; source/from)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी) / Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Dual (द्विवचन)

• bhuvaḥ-lokaḥ: Bhuvarloka (mid-region)
• bhuvaḥ-lokaḥ: Karta (कर्ता; topic/predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhuvaḥ (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष

• asya: of him/this (Person)
• asya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter (पुं/नपुं), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन)

• nābhitaḥ: from the navel
• nābhitaḥ: Apādāna (अपादान; source/from)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nābhi (प्रातिपदिक) + tas (तसिल्)
• Form: Ablatival adverb (तसिलन्त-अव्यय), meaning 'from/at the navel'

• hṛdā: by/through the heart
• hṛdā: Karaṇa (करण; means/by)
• Type: Noun
• Root: hṛd (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• svaḥ-lokaḥ: Svarloka (heaven)
• svaḥ-lokaḥ: Karta (कर्ता; topic/predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svaḥ (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष

• urasā: by/through the chest
• urasā: Karaṇa (करण; means/by)
• Type: Noun
• Root: uras (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• mahaḥ-lokaḥ: Maharloka
• mahaḥ-lokaḥ: Karta (कर्ता; topic/predicate nominative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahaḥ (प्रातिपदिक) + loka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष

• mahātmanaḥ: of the great-souled (Lord)
• mahātmanaḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā-ātman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Singular (एकवचन); कर्मधारय: mahān ātmā = great-souled

Purport

There are fourteen spheres of planetary systems within this universe. The lower systems are called Bhūrloka, the middle systems are called Bhuvarloka, and the higher planetary systems, up to Brahmaloka, the highest planetary system of the universe, are called Svarloka. And all of them are situated on the body of the Lord. In other words, no one within this universe is without a relationship with the Lord.

Characters & Entities

• Virāṭ-Puruṣa (Universal Form of the Lord)

FAQs

What does the Srimad Bhagavatam say about Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, and Maharloka?

This verse maps these realms onto the Lord’s universal form for meditation: Bhū-loka as His feet, Bhuvar-loka as His navel, Svar-loka as His heart, and Maharloka as His chest.

Why did Śukadeva Gosvāmī describe the universe as the Lord’s body to King Parīkṣit?

To give Parīkṣit a devotional, contemplative framework (virāṭ-dhyāna) that links cosmic structure to remembrance of the Supreme Person, strengthening bhakti at the time of hearing Bhāgavatam.

Practical application of meditating on the Virāṭ-rūpa in modern life?

See the world as connected to the Divine—practice reverence, reduce ego-centered thinking, and use daily observation of nature and the cosmos as a prompt for remembrance of the Lord.