Markandeya Purana — Adhyaya 79, Shloka 8
Adhyaya 79 — The Vaivasvata Manvantara: Classes of Devas, the Seven Sages, and Manu’s Nine Sons
भूर्लोकोऽयं स्मृता भूमिरन्तरिक्षं दिवः स्मृतम् ।
दिव्याख्याश्च तथा स्वर्गस्त्रैलोक्यमिति गद्यते ॥
bhūrloko 'yaṃ smṛtā bhūmir antarikṣaṃ divaḥ smṛtam |
divyākhyāś ca tathā svargas trailokyam iti gadyate ||
ਭੂਰਲੋਕ ‘ਪ੍ਰਿਥਵੀ’ ਦੇ ਨਾਮ ਨਾਲ ਪ੍ਰਸਿੱਧ ਹੈ; ਅੰਤਰਿਕਸ਼ ਨੂੰ ਆਕਾਸ਼/ਦ੍ਯੁ ਕਿਹਾ ਜਾਂਦਾ ਹੈ; ਅਤੇ ਇਸੇ ਤਰ੍ਹਾਂ ‘ਦਿਵ੍ਯ’ ਕਹੇ ਜਾਣ ਵਾਲਾ ਸਵਰਗ—ਇਹ ਤਿੰਨੇ ਤ੍ਰੈਲੋਕ੍ਯ ਕਹੇ ਜਾਂਦੇ ਹਨ।
FAQs
The Purāṇic narrative often anchors ethical discourse in cosmic order; by defining the three worlds, it frames dharma and governance as operating within a structured universe rather than a random world.
This is Sthāna (cosmic ‘place’/structure) embedded within Manvantara narration—typical of Purāṇas, where genealogies and reigns are contextualized by cosmography.
The threefold division can be read as a macrocosmic mirror of threefold experience (gross–subtle–causal), though the verse itself is primarily cosmographical.