Matsya Purana — Intermediate Dissolution, Shloka 21

Devanagari script

यद्भवद्भिः पुरा पृष्टः सृष्ट्यादिकमहं द्विजाः तद् एवैकार्णवे तस्मिन् मनुः पप्रच्छ केशवम् //

Transliteration

yadbhavadbhiḥ purā pṛṣṭaḥ sṛṣṭyādikamahaṃ dvijāḥ tad evaikārṇave tasmin manuḥ papraccha keśavam //

Translation

噢，诸位二次生的圣贤，你们从前问我关于创世及其相关事理的同一主题——就在那唯一宇宙大海之时，摩奴亦就此向凯沙瓦（毗湿奴）发问。

Word by Word

• yad: that which

• bhavadbhiḥ: by you (honored ones)

• purā: formerly/earlier

• pṛṣṭaḥ: asked/inquired

• sṛṣṭi-ādikam: creation and the rest (origination, dissolution, etc.)

• aham: I

• dvijāḥ: O twice-born (brāhmaṇa) sages

• tat eva: that very (same)

• ekārṇave: in the one ocean / at the time of the single flood-like ocean

• tasmin: in that (situation/time)

• manuḥ: Manu (Vaivasvata Manu)

• papraccha: asked/inquired

• keśavam: Keśava (Viṣṇu, Lord Matsya in context).

Speaker

• Sūta (narrator) addressing the assembled dvijas (sages)

Entities Mentioned

• Manu
• Keśava (Viṣṇu / Lord Matsya by context)
• Dvijas (sages)

Tags

• Creation
• Pralaya
• Matsya-Avatara
• Manu
• Puranic Dialogue

FAQs

What does this verse reveal about the creation or dissolution (Pralaya)?

It frames the teaching as arising in the ekārṇava—an all-engulfing ocean condition associated with pralaya—where Manu asks Viṣṇu about creation and allied cosmological topics.

How does this verse relate to the duties of a King or Householder?

Indirectly: it establishes Manu (the archetypal lawgiver and ruler) as receiving foundational cosmological knowledge from Viṣṇu, which underpins later dharma-guidance for governance and right living.

What is the architectural or ritual significance mentioned here?

None explicitly in this verse; it is a narrative bridge introducing a cosmological inquiry rather than Vāstu or ritual procedure.