Shloka 15

Measure of the Three Worlds, Planetary Spheres, and Sūrya as the Root of Trailokya

Devanagari script

अद्धृत्य पृथिवीच्छायां निर्मितो मण्डलाकृतिः / स्वर्भानोस्तु वृहत् स्थानं तृतीयं यत् तमोमयम्

Transliteration

addhṛtya pṛthivīcchāyāṃ nirmito maṇḍalākṛtiḥ / svarbhānostu vṛhat sthānaṃ tṛtīyaṃ yat tamomayam

Translation

เมื่ออาศัยเงาของแผ่นดิน จึงเกิดรูปเป็นวงกลมขึ้น และสวรภาณุ (ราหู) มีสถานีที่สามอันกว้างใหญ่ ซึ่งมีสภาพเป็นความมืดทึบ

Word by Word

• आद्धृत्य: having supported
• आद्धृत्य: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ā-√dhṛ (धातु)
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/Absolutive), उपसर्ग: आ-; ‘having supported/held’

• पृथिवी-छायायाम्: in the earth’s shadow
• पृथिवी-छायायाम्: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthivī (प्रातिपदिक) + chāyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (Locative/7th), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: पृथिव्याः छाया = ‘earth’s shadow’

• निर्मितः: was formed/made
• निर्मितः: Karta-samānādhikaraṇa (कर्तृसमनाधिकरण; predicate participle)
• Type: Verb
• Root: nir-√mā (धातु)
• Form: कृदन्त (Past Passive Participle/क्त), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom/1st), एकवचन; ‘made/formed’

• मण्डल-आकृतिः: a circular form
• मण्डल-आकृतिः: Karta (कर्ता; subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: maṇḍala (प्रातिपदिक) + ākṛti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom/1st), एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष: मण्डलस्य आकृतिः = ‘circular form’

• स्वर्भानोः: of Svarbhānu
• स्वर्भानोः: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध; genitive relation)
• Type: Noun
• Root: svarbhānu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (Gen/6th), एकवचन

• तु: but/indeed
• तु: Sambandha-bodhaka (सम्बन्धबोधक)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; विरोध/विशेषार्थक निपात (adversative/emphatic particle)

• वृहत्: great/large
• वृहत्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: bṛhat (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom/Acc), एकवचन; विशेषणम् ‘great/large’

• स्थानम्: place/region
• स्थानम्: Karta (कर्ता; subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sthāna (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (Nom/1st), एकवचन

• तृतीयम्: third
• तृतीयम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tṛtīya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; क्रमवाचक विशेषण (ordinal)

• यत्: which
• यत्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण; relative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; सम्बन्धसूचक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• तमोमयम्: made of darkness
• तमोमयम्: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tamas (प्रातिपदिक) + maya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तृतीया-तत्पुरुष/उपपद: तमसा मयम् = ‘consisting of darkness’

Speaker

Sūta (narrator) recounting Purāṇic cosmography within the Kurma Purana’s discourse

Verse Rasa

Primary Rasa: adbhuta

Secondary Rasa: shanta

Characters & Entities

• Pṛthivī (Earth)
• Chāyā (Earth’s shadow)
• Svarbhānu (Rāhu)

More Details (4 sections)

FAQs

How does this verse explain the nature of the Supreme Self (Atman)?

Indirectly: by describing a “tamomaya” (darkness-made) region linked with eclipse-causing forces, it contrasts the conditioned, tamasic domain of cosmic phenomena with the Atman taught elsewhere in the Kurma Purana as self-luminous (svayaṃ-prakāśa) and untouched by shadow or obscuration.

What Yoga or Meditative practices are highlighted here?

No specific practice is prescribed in this verse; however, its emphasis on tamas (darkness/obscuration) aligns with Kurma Purana’s Yoga-śāstra orientation: the sādhaka is to overcome tamasic veiling through discipline (yama–niyama), clarity (sattva-śuddhi), and steady contemplation so that awareness is not “eclipsed” by guṇa-driven delusion.

How does this verse depict the relationship between Shiva and Vishnu?

The verse is cosmographic rather than sectarian; in the Kurma Purana’s Shaiva–Vaishnava synthesis, such cosmic mechanisms (shadow, darkness, eclipse forces) are treated as functions within Īśvara’s ordered creation—harmonizing devotion to both Hari (Vishnu/Kurma) and Hara (Shiva) as the one sovereign reality governing the cosmos.