Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana Book 5 Chapter 23:1-5

Book 5: Chapter 23

Prev.png
Srimad Bhagvata Mahapurana: Book 5: Chapter 23: Verses 1-5
The disposition of the stellar sphere represented in the form of a dolphin

Sri Suka continued : Now, at a height of thirteen lakh Yojanas beyond the Great Bear, lies (in the form of the pole-star) what they call the highest abode[1] of Lord Visnu, where indeed resides the great devotee of the Lord, Dhruva, son of Uttanapada, who is being circumambulated clockwise with great reverence even to this day by Agni (the god of fire), Indra (the chief of the gods), Kasyapa, a lord of created beings, and Dharma (the god of virtue)-all moving synchronously (in the form of stars)-and who is the mainstay (resort) of (all)-those who live (even) at the time of Pralaya (when all the three worlds perish). His glory has (already) been described in (Book Four of) this (holy) book (Srimad Bhagavata). Indeed he shines eternally (in the form of a star), fixed as he is by God, like a post holding togetherall the multitudes of luminaries, including planets and lunar mansions, that are being made to revolve by the ever-vigilant and all-powerful Time of incomprehensible speed.

Just as (pairs of) oxen, trampling corn (in order to thresh it) while (remaining) tied to a post in the middle of a threshing-floor, walk round in their respective spheres, in three circles (gradually receding from that post), so the hosts of luminaries including the planets-fastened as they are to the aforesaid wheel (revolving movement) of Time either in the inner circle (remote from the earth) or in the outer one (nearer the earth) and propelled by the wind (called Pravaha and referred to in passage 8 of Discourse XXI)-revolve round the pole-star as the pivot till the end of a Kalpa (the life-time of the three worlds) in three courses (northward, southward and along the equator). (And just) as clouds and birds such as the hawk move about in the sky, suspended in the air and helped by their destiny (which keeps them floating in the air and prevents them from falling down), so the hosts of luminaries (which are no other than particular Jivas appearing in those form)-brought into existence by the union of matter and Spirit (occasioned by the destiny responsible for their assuming such forms) and reaping the fruit yielded by their (past) actions-(move about in the air and) do not fall to the ground.Some people declare the sterllar sphere as capable of being meditated upon through deep concentration of mind as a form of Lord Vasudeva, (existing) in the shape of a dolphin. At the end of the tail of this (divine) dolphin, whose body lies coiled with its head downwards, is allocated the pole-star; at its tail (below the en) are located one after another (the four stars representing) the Prajapati (the sage Kasyapa0, Agni (the god of fire, Indra (the chief of the gods) and Dharma (the god of piety); at the root of its tail, (the stars representing the gods) Dhata and vidhata; at the hip, the seven stars (of the Great Bear, representing theseven seers); on the right side of the dolphin, whose body lies coiled from left to right, they locate the (fourteen) constellations that mark the northern course (viz., from Abhijit to Punarvasu) and (the other fourteen, viz.,) those marking the southern course (i.e., from Pusya to Uttarasadha) on the left side, (even) as on both sides of a (common) dolphin whose body is disposed in concentric rings, the parts are equally divided. (to mention the limps sparatedly at its back is placed the (group of constellations known by the name of) Ajavithi (consisting of Mula, Puravasadha and Uttarasadha) adn at its belly, the milky way.


Next.png

References

  1. In the region of the pole-star Lord Visnu ever remains manifest. it is in this sense that it has been spoken of here as well as at other places as the highest abode of Lord Visnu, it is surely different from the Lord's own realm, known by the name of Vaikuntha, which lies beyond the material plane.

Related Articles