Srimad Bhagavatam — Tritiya Skandha, Shloka 26
Vidura’s Questions: How the Unchangeable Lord Relates to Māyā; Bhakti as the Remedy; Blueprint for the Coming Cosmology
उपर्यधश्च ये लोका भूमेर्मित्रात्मजासते । तेषां संस्थां प्रमाणं च भूर्लोकस्य च वर्णय ॥ २६ ॥
upary adhaś ca ye lokā bhūmer mitrātmajāsate teṣāṁ saṁsthāṁ pramāṇaṁ ca bhūr-lokasya ca varṇaya
О сын Митры, будь милостив: опиши, как расположены миры над землёй и под нею, и назови их меры, а также меру Бхулоки.
Yasmin vijñāte sarvam evaṁ vijñātaṁ bhavati ( Muṇḍaka Upaniṣad 1.3). This Vedic hymn declares emphatically that the devotee of the Lord knows everything material and spiritual in relationship with the Lord. Devotees are not simply emotional, as is ill conceived by certain less intelligent men. Their direction is practical. They know everything that is and all the details of the Lord’s domination over the different creations.
FAQs
This verse shows Vidura requesting Maitreya to explain the higher and lower planetary systems relative to earth, including their arrangement and measurements—introducing the Bhagavatam’s detailed Vedic cosmology.
Vidura seeks authoritative spiritual knowledge from Maitreya; understanding the universe’s structure supports Bhagavatam’s broader teaching about the Lord’s governance of creation and the soul’s journey beyond material realms.
It helps cultivate humility and a bigger spiritual perspective—seeing human life as a small part of a vast, divinely ordered creation—encouraging purposeful living and devotion rather than material obsession.