कृतयुगवर्णनम् तथा राजधर्मोपदेशः
Kṛtayuga Description and Instruction on Royal Dharma
एताश्षान्याश्व नद्यो5हं पृथिव्यां या नरोत्तम । परिक्रामन् प्रपश्यामि तस्य कुक्षौ महात्मन:
etāś cānyāś ca nadyo 'haṃ pṛthivyāṃ yā narottama | parikrāman prapaśyāmi tasya kukṣau mahātmanaḥ ||
ନରୋତ୍ତମ! ସେଇ ମହାତ୍ମାଙ୍କ ଉଦର ମଧ୍ୟରେ ପରିଭ୍ରମଣ କରି ମୁଁ ଏହି ସମସ୍ତ ନଦୀ ଏବଂ ପୃଥିବୀରେ ବହୁଥିବା ଅନ୍ୟ ନଦୀମାନଙ୍କୁ ମଧ୍ୟ ଦେଖିଲି।
वैशम्पायन उवाच
The verse evokes a cosmic perspective: the entire sacred landscape (symbolized by the rivers of the earth) can be contained within a higher, mysterious reality. It underscores humility before the vastness of dharma and the world-order, where the familiar geography becomes part of a larger, awe-inspiring vision.
The narrator describes moving about and seeing, within the belly of a great being, the rivers of the earth (and by implication the whole world). It is a marvel-episode in which ordinary spatial boundaries are overturned, presenting an interior ‘world’ that contains the external world.