Shloka 11

प्रह्लादस्य विष्णुमयता, विष्णोः दर्शनं, वरदानं, तथा चरितश्रवण-फलम्

Devanagari script

करालसौम्यरूपात्मन् विद्याविद्यामयाच्युत सदसद्रूपसद्भाव सदसद्भावभावन

Transliteration

karālasaumyarūpātman vidyāvidyāmayācyuta sadasadrūpasadbhāva sadasadbhāvabhāvana

Translation

اے اَچُیوت! تیرا ہی روپ ہیبت ناک بھی ہے اور نرم و لطیف بھی۔ تو ہی علم و جہل کا جوہر ہے؛ تو ہی ہستی و نیستی دونوں میں قائم حقیقت ہے، اور ہستی و نیستی کے تصورات کو پیدا کرنے والا اور ان کا حاکم بھی تو ہی ہے۔

Word by Word

करालterrible, fierce

सौम्यgentle, auspicious

रूपform

आत्मन्O one whose essence is (that) form

विद्याknowledge

अविद्याignorance

मयconsisting of knowledge and ignorance

अच्युतO Acyuta (the unfailing one)

सत्being, real

असत्non-being, unreal

रूपform

सद्भावO reality/existence of the forms of being and non-being

सत्being

असत्non-being

भावstate, becoming

भावनO producer/causer of the states of being and non-being

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (addressing Lord Vishnu) in a doxological passage within his teaching to Maitreya

Characters & Entities

Vishnu (Acyuta)

FAQs

What is the significance of ‘vidyā’ and ‘avidyā’ in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse presents Vishnu as the ultimate ground of both liberating knowledge (vidyā) and the power that veils it (avidyā), indicating that cosmic experience and liberation both occur under His sovereignty.

How does Sage Parāśara explain sat and asat (being and non-being)?

Here sat/asat are treated as categories that arise in relation to manifestation; Parāśara praises Vishnu as the true reality underlying both the manifest (sat) and what is unmanifest or negated (asat), as well as the cause of these conceptual distinctions.

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

Vishnu is affirmed as the Supreme Reality (Para Brahman): simultaneously transcendent and immanent—capable of fierce and gentle modes—while remaining the controller and sustainer of cosmic order and all states of knowing.