Shloka 3
Adhyaya 3 — The Dharmapakshis’ Past-Life Curse and Indra’s Test of Truthfulness
दृष्ट्वा महीं सनगरां साम्भोनिधिसरिद्वराम् ।
रथचक्रप्रमाणां ते पुनराश्रममागताः ॥
dṛṣṭvā mahīṃ sa-nagarāṃ sāmbhonidhi-saridvarām | ratha-cakra-pramāṇāṃ te punar āśramam āgatāḥ ||
ਉਹਨਾਂ ਨੇ ਸ਼ਹਿਰਾਂ ਸਮੇਤ ਧਰਤੀ ਨੂੰ, ਅਤੇ ਸਮੁੰਦਰ ਤੇ ਉੱਤਮ ਨਦੀਆਂ ਨਾਲ ਸੁਸ਼ੋਭਿਤ ਦੇਖ ਕੇ, ਮਾਨੋ ਰਥ ਦੇ ਪਹੀਏ ਦੇ ਮਾਪ ਨਾਲ ਉਸ ਨੂੰ ਮਾਪ ਲਿਆ ਹੋਵੇ, ਫਿਰ ਮੁੜ ਆਸ਼ਰਮ ਨੂੰ ਪਰਤ ਆਏ।
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FAQs
The verse emphasizes disciplined observation and returning to the seat of inquiry (āśrama). Knowledge-gathering—seeing the world’s breadth (cities, oceans, rivers)—is framed as purposeful and contained, culminating in a return to contemplation rather than wandering for its own sake.
This verse is not directly sarga/pratisarga/vaṃśa/manvantara/vaṃśānucarita. It functions as connective narrative and descriptive geography that often accompanies Purāṇic exposition, serving as a frame-device rather than a core pañcalakṣaṇa unit.
‘Measuring the earth by a chariot-wheel’ suggests compressing vast experience into a graspable unit—symbolically, the mind’s capacity to circumscribe the world through a single pramāṇa (measure). The return to the āśrama indicates reintegration: outer perception must culminate in inner assimilation.