Shloka 10
ध्रुवस्य तपः — देवमायाविघ्नाः, विष्णोर्दर्शनम्, स्तुतिः, ध्रुवस्थानप्रदानम्
पादाङ्गुष्ठेन संपीड्य यदा स वसुधां स्थितः तदा सा वसुधा विप्र चचाल सह पर्वतैः
pādāṅguṣṭhena saṃpīḍya yadā sa vasudhāṃ sthitaḥ tadā sā vasudhā vipra cacāla saha parvataiḥ
ஓ விப்ரரே, அவர் பூமியில் நின்று பாதத்தின் பெருவிரலால் அதை அழுத்தியபோது, மலைகளுடன் கூடிய பூமி நடுங்கி அசைந்தது।
Sage Parāśara (narrating to Maitreya)
Speaker: Parasara
Topic: Earth’s trembling with mountains due to the Lord’s toe pressing—signs of overwhelming divine power.
Teaching: Cosmological
Quality: authoritative
Cosmic Hierarchy: Lokas (worlds)
Concept: A mere touch of the Lord’s ‘toe’ can move the earth—indicating immeasurable aiśvarya and the fragility of worldly stability without Him.
Vedantic Theme: Dharma
Application: When life ‘shakes,’ remember dependence on the divine; respond with steadiness, prayer, and dharmic action rather than panic.
Vishishtadvaita: Reinforces the Lord’s mastery over prakṛti (acit) while remaining intimately related to it—power without separation from the world He sustains.
Vishnu Form: Hari
Lakshmi Presence: Bhumi
FAQs
It signifies overwhelming cosmic authority—so great that even the Earth and its mountains respond physically—highlighting the Purāṇic theme of universal order upheld by supreme power.
By describing a mere toe-press causing the whole Earth to shake, Parāśara uses concrete, sensory imagery to communicate superhuman, world-governing potency within the cosmos.
Even when not named explicitly in the verse, the narrative style of the Vishnu Purana frames such world-shaking potency as belonging to the supreme reality that sustains and governs creation—central to Vaiṣṇava cosmology.