Shloka 14

प्रलय-त्रिविध-विभागः एवं प्राकृतप्रलय-वर्णनम्

Devanagari script

चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते क्षीणप्राये महीतले अनावृष्टिर् अतीवोग्रा जायते शतवार्षिकी

Transliteration

caturyugasahasrānte kṣīṇaprāye mahītale anāvṛṣṭir atīvogrā jāyate śatavārṣikī

Translation

நான்கு யுகங்களின் ஆயிரம் சுழற்சியின் முடிவில், பூமி ஏறத்தாழ சோர்ந்தபோது, மிகக் கொடிய மழையின்மை எழுகிறது—நூறு ஆண்டுகள் இடையறாத வறட்சி.

Word by Word

• चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते: at the end of a thousand four-yugas
• चतुर्युगसहस्रान्ते: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: चतुर् (संख्या/प्रातिपदिक) + युग (प्रातिपदिक) + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक) + अन्त (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः—(चतुर्युगानां सहस्रस्य) अन्ते इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (समासान्ते सप्तमी)

• क्षीणप्राये: when (it is) almost exhausted
• क्षीणप्राये: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: क्षीण (कृदन्त/ppp from √क्षि/क्षय) + प्राय (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (महītale इत्यस्य)

• महीतले: on the surface of the earth
• महीतले: Adhikarana (Locative/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मही (प्रातिपदिक) + तल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/सप्तमी), एकवचन; समासः—मही-तलम् इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

• अनावृष्टिः: drought / absence of rain
• अनावृष्टिः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अन्- (उपसर्ग/निषेध) + आवृष्टि (प्रातिपदिक; from √वृष् ‘to rain’)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन

• अतीवोग्रा: exceedingly fierce
• अतीवोग्रा: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: अतीव (अव्यय) + उग्रा (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (अनावृष्टिः इत्यस्य); अतीव इति क्रियाविशेषण-प्रयोगः (intensifier)

• जायते: arises / occurs
• जायते: Kriya (Verb/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √जन् (धातु)
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपदम्

• शतवार्षिकी: lasting a hundred years
• शतवार्षिकी: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: शत (प्रातिपदिक) + वार्षिक (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/प्रथमा), एकवचन; विशेषणम् (अनावृष्टिः इत्यस्य); समासः—शत-वर्षाणां (परिमाण) वार्षिकी इति षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (speaking to Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: The process and signs of cosmic dissolution (pralaya) at the end of Brahmā’s day.

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Kalpa

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Even the seemingly stable earth is periodic and perishable, entering dissolution at ordained cosmic intervals.

Vedantic Theme: Maya

Application: Cultivate detachment from worldly security and orient life toward the imperishable Lord rather than transient conditions.

Vishishtadvaita: The world is real yet dependent (śeṣa) and periodically withdrawn by the Supreme who remains unchanged.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Characters & Entities

• Earth (Mahī)
• Yuga cycle (Caturyuga)

FAQs

What is the significance of the hundred-year drought in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents the prolonged drought as a major omen of end-cycle depletion—an environmental sign that the cosmic age has reached its limit and dissolution-processes are beginning.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the yuga-cycle’s culmination here?

Parāśara frames it in measurable cosmic time—after a thousand caturyuga cycles—then describes the earth becoming ‘nearly exhausted,’ expressed outwardly as an extreme, century-long failure of rains.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the line, the Purana’s cosmology treats such time-cycles and dissolutions as operating within Vishnu’s supreme order—time and the world’s renewal ultimately depend on that transcendent sovereignty.