Shloka 18

भू-मण्डलसंक्षेपवर्णनम् — सप्तद्वीप-सप्तसमुद्राः, मेरु-मानम्, गङ्गावतरणम्, देववन-सरोवर-लोकपालपुर्यः

Devanagari script

कदम्बस् तेषु जम्बूश् च पिप्पलो वट एव च एकादशशतायामाः पादपा गिरिकेतवः

Transliteration

kadambas teṣu jambūś ca pippalo vaṭa eva ca ekādaśaśatāyāmāḥ pādapā giriketavaḥ

Translation

Sa mga lupain na iyon ay may punong kadamba, jambu, ang banal na pippala, at ang kagalang-galang na balete (banyan). Ang mga ito’y mga punong tila watawat ng bundok—may taas na isang libo’t isang daang yojana, na parang mga haligi ng watawat ng daigdig.

Word by Word

• कदम्बः: Kadamba (tree)
• कदम्बः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कदम्ब (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• तेषु: among them/in them
• तेषु: Adhikarana (Location/अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुं/नपुंसक, सप्तमी (7), बहुवचन; सर्वनाम

• जम्बूः: Jambū (rose-apple tree)
• जम्बूः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: जम्बू (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (या-प्रत्ययान्त), प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• च: and
• च: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• पिप्पलः: Pippala (aśvattha) tree
• पिप्पलः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पिप्पल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• वटः: Vaṭa (banyan) tree
• वटः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वट (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), एकवचन

• एव: indeed/also
• एव: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: एव (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; निपात—अवधारणार्थक

• च: and
• च: Connector (समुच्चय)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक

• एकादशशतायामाः: having a length of eleven hundred
• एकादशशतायामाः: Visheshana (Adjectival/विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: एकादश + शत + आयाम (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (एकादशशत-आयाम = having length of eleven hundred)

• पादपाः: trees
• पादपाः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पादप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन

• गिरिकेतवः: like mountain-banners (towering)
• गिरिकेतवः: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गिरि + केतु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1), बहुवचन; समासः—तत्पुरुष (गिरिणां केतवः = mountain-banners; i.e., towering like peaks)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (in dialogue, instructing Maitreya)

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Jambūdvīpa
• Kadamba tree
• Jambu tree
• Pippala (Aśvattha)
• Vaṭa (Banyan)

FAQs

What is the significance of sacred trees like pippala and vaṭa in the Vishnu Purana?

Here they function as cosmic landmarks of Jambūdvīpa—symbols of enduring life and ordered creation—marking the world as structured and sustained within a divinely governed cosmos.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the immense scale (eleven hundred yojanas) in this passage?

Parāśara uses vast measures to convey the Purāṇic world’s superhuman magnitude and to emphasize the grandeur and coherence of the created order being described to Maitreya.

What is the theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this geographic description?

Even when Vishnu is not named in the verse, the ordered arrangement of the world—its stable regions and emblematic features—implies a cosmos upheld by the Supreme Reality (Vishnu) as its sustaining principle.