Shloka 16
Adhyāya 6: Pañca-mahābhūta–guṇa-nirdeśa and Sudarśana-dvīpa
Five Elements, Sensory Qualities, and a Cosmographic Island
तमादित्यो<नुपर्येति सततं ज्योतिषां वर: । चन्द्रमाश्न॒ सनक्षत्रो वायुश्नैव प्रदक्षिण:
tam ādityo 'nuparyeti satataṁ jyotiṣāṁ varaḥ | candramāś ca sanakṣatro vāyuś caiva pradakṣiṇaḥ ||
ਸੰਜਯ ਨੇ ਆਖਿਆ— ਜੋਤੀਆਂ ਵਿਚ ਸਭ ਤੋਂ ਸ਼੍ਰੇਸ਼ਠ ਆਦਿਤ੍ਯ (ਸੂਰਜ) ਨਿਰੰਤਰ ਉਸ ਦੀ ਪਰਿਕ੍ਰਮਾ ਕਰਦਾ ਹੈ; ਨਕਸ਼ਤਰਾਂ ਸਮੇਤ ਚੰਦਰਮਾ ਅਤੇ ਵਾਯੁਦੇਵ ਵੀ ਸਦਾ ਪ੍ਰਦਕਸ਼ਿਣਾ-ਕ੍ਰਮ ਨਾਲ ਉਸ ਦੇ ਗੇੜ ਲਾਂਦੇ ਰਹਿੰਦੇ ਹਨ।
संजय उवाच
Educational Q&A
The verse highlights that the cosmos runs by an inviolable order: even mighty forces like the Sun, Moon, stars, and Wind follow a prescribed, auspicious course. This serves as a reminder that dharma is not merely social law but a universal principle of right order.
Sañjaya describes a cosmic scene in which the Sun, the Moon with the constellations, and the Wind continually move in a rightward circuit around a central axis (understood in traditional cosmology as Meru or the world’s pivot), emphasizing the grandeur and regularity of the universe.