Shloka 8

आत्यन्तिक-लयहेतुः: तापत्रय-विवेचनम् तथा ‘भगवान्/वासुदेव’ शब्दार्थः

Threefold Suffering and the Path to Final Liberation; Meaning of Bhagavān and Vāsudeva

Devanagari script

शीतोष्णवातवर्षाम्बुवैद्युतादिसमुद्भवः तापो द्विजवरश्रेष्ठ कथ्यते चाधिदैविकः

Transliteration

śītoṣṇavātavarṣāmbuvaidyutādisamudbhavaḥ tāpo dvijavaraśreṣṭha kathyate cādhidaivikaḥ

Translation

噢，最胜的再生者，由寒与热、风与雨、洪水与雷电等所生之苦，被宣说为“依天力之苦”（adhidaivika）。

Word by Word

• śīta-uṣṇa-vāta-varṣā-ambu-vaidyuta-ādi-samudbhavaḥ: arising from cold, heat, wind, rain, water, lightning, etc.
• śīta-uṣṇa-vāta-varṣā-ambu-vaidyuta-ādi-samudbhavaḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śīta (प्रातिपदिक) + uṣṇa (प्रातिपदिक) + vāta (प्रातिपदिक) + varṣā (प्रातिपदिक) + ambu (प्रातिपदिक) + vaidyuta (प्रातिपदिक) + ādi (प्रातिपदिक) + samudbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; बहुपद-तत्पुरुष (…-ādi-samudbhava = ‘arising from cold, heat, wind, rain, water, lightning, etc.’)

• tāpaḥ: affliction
• tāpaḥ: Karta (Subject/कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tāpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन

• dvijavaraśreṣṭha: O best among the excellent twice-born
• dvijavaraśreṣṭha: Sambodhana (Address/सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dvija (प्रातिपदिक) + vara (प्रातिपदिक) + śreṣṭha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th/Vocative), एकवचन; तत्पुरुष (dvijānāṃ varaḥ śreṣṭhaḥ)

• kathyate: is said/is called
• kathyate: Kriya (Predicate/क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: kath (धातु)
• Form: लट् (Present), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि प्रयोग (is said/called)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (Conjunction/सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• adhidaivikaḥ: divine/cosmic (due to deities/nature)
• adhidaivikaḥ: Karta (Predicate adjective/कर्तृ-विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: adhidaivika (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन; विशेषण (tāpaḥ understood)

Speaker

Sage Parāśara (teaching Maitreya)

Characters & Entities

• Parāśara
• Maitreya
• Devas (as cosmic powers implied)

FAQs

What is the significance of adhi-daivika suffering in the Vishnu Purana?

This verse defines adhi-daivika tāpa as misery caused by external cosmic powers—weather, lightning, floods—showing how the Purana classifies suffering within the ordered governance of the universe.

How does Sage Parāśara explain the threefold afflictions (tāpa-traya)?

Here Parāśara identifies one category—adhi-daivika—by listing natural and celestial causes, distinguishing it from inner (ādhyātmika) and interpersonal/creature-based (ādhibhautika) forms of suffering taught in the same framework.

The theological importance of Lord Vishnu in this context?

By placing even uncontrollable natural calamities within a classified cosmic order, the teaching supports the Vaishnava view that the universe operates under higher sovereignty—ultimately grounded in Vishnu as the supreme regulator of dharma and cosmic law.