Shloka 22

सर्गभेदाः — अविद्या, स्रोतोभेदाः, नव सर्गाः, देवासुरादिसृष्टिः, वेद-यज्ञप्रादुर्भावः

Devanagari script

पञ्चमस् तु च यः प्रोक्तस् तैर्यग्योन्यः स उच्यते ततोर्ध्वस्रोतसां षष्ठो देवसर्गस् तु स स्मृतः

Transliteration

pañcamas tu ca yaḥ proktas tairyagyonyaḥ sa ucyate tatordhvasrotasāṃ ṣaṣṭho devasargas tu sa smṛtaḥ

Translation

پانچواں سَرگ ‘تَیریَگ یونی’ کہلاتا ہے—ترچھے بہاؤ والے، یعنی جانوروں وغیرہ کی پیدائش۔ اس کے اوپر چھٹا سَرگ ‘اُردھوسروتس’ کا ہے—دیوتاؤں کی تخلیق، یعنی دیو سَرگ۔

Word by Word

पञ्चमःfifth

तुand/but

चand

यःwhich/that (one)

प्रोक्तःis said/declared

तैर्यग्योन्यःof animal birth (tiryak-yoni)

सःthat

उच्यतेis called

ततःthereafter/from that

ऊर्ध्वस्रोतसाम्of the upward-streaming (beings)

षष्ठःsixth

देवसर्गःcreation of the gods

तुindeed

सःthat

स्मृतःis remembered as

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Parashara-Maitreya Dialogue

Speaker: Parasara

Topic: Enumeration of the successive creations: animal (tairyag-yoni) and deva (ūrdhvasrotas) classes

Teaching: Cosmological

Quality: authoritative

Cosmological Context

Creation Stage: Secondary

Philosophical Teaching

Concept: Living beings are classified by their ‘currents’ (srotas): animals as tairyag-yoni and, above them, the upward-streaming gods (ūrdhvasrotas) as the deva-sarga.

Vedantic Theme: Dharma

Application: Use the hierarchy as a contemplative map: refine tendencies from instinctive horizontality toward upward aspiration through sattva, worship, and self-discipline.

Vishishtadvaita: Diversity of jīvas and their stations is real within the Lord’s ordered body (śarīra) of the universe, enabling graded spiritual ascent.

Vaishnava Theology

Vishnu Form: Para-Brahman

Jagat Karana: Yes

Characters & Entities

Devas (gods)

FAQs

What is the significance of tairyag-yoni in the Vishnu Purana?

In this verse it denotes the fifth creation: the animal and non-human orders characterized as ‘horizontal’ in their mode of life, showing how creation is classified into distinct streams of embodiment.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the progression from animals to gods here?

He presents a sequential taxonomy of sarga: after the tairyag-yoni creation comes the ūrdhva-srotas category, identified as devasarga, indicating a higher, ‘upward’ stream of beings within the cosmic hierarchy.

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

Though Vishnu is not named in this line, the teaching sits within Parāśara’s Vishnu-centered cosmology where all orders of beings—animal and divine—arise within the structured creation sustained by the Supreme Reality.