[Pramāṇa](https://indike.org/pramana/) › [Indian literature](https://indike.org/pramana/in) › [Purāṇas](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana) › [Vishnupurana](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu) › 1.7.36-44 # Vishnupurana 1.7.36-44 Viṣṇupurāṇa 1.7.36-44 - **Language:** Sanskrit ### [1.7.36](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.36) parāśara uvāca: sargasthitivināśāṃś ca bhagavān madhusūdanaḥ tais tai rūpair acintyātmā karoty avyāhatān vibhuḥ // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.37](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.37) naimittikaḥ prākṛtikas tathaivātyantiko dvija nityaś ca sarvabhūtānāṃ pralayo 'yaṃ caturvidhaḥ // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.38](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.38) brāhmo naimittikas tatra yac chete jagataḥ patiḥ prayāti prākṛte caiva brahmāṇḍaṃ prakṛtau layam // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.39](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.39) jñānād ātyantikaḥ prokto yoginaḥ paramātmani nityaḥ sadaiva jātānāṃ yo vināśo divāniśam // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.40](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.40) prasūtiḥ prakṛter yā tu sā sṛṣṭiḥ prākṛtā smṛtā dainaṃdinī tathā proktā yāntarapralayād anu // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.41](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.41) bhūtāny anudinaṃ yatra jāyante munisattama nityasargo hi sa proktaḥ purāṇārthavicakṣaṇaiḥ // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.42](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.42) evaṃ sarvaśarīreṣu bhagavān bhūtabhāvanaḥ saṃsthitaḥ kurute viṣṇur utpattisthitisaṃyamān // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.43](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.43) sṛṣṭisthitivināśānāṃ śaktayaḥ sarvadehiṣu vaiṣṇavyaḥ parivartante maitreyāharniśaṃ sadā // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ### [1.7.44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.44) guṇatrayamayaṃ hy etad brahmañ chaktitrayaṃ mahat yo 'tiyāti sa yāty eva paraṃ nāvartate punaḥ // > PARÁŚARA.--Madhusúdana, whose essence is incomprehensible, in the forms of these (patriarchs and Manus), is the author of the uninterrupted vicissitudes of creation, preservation, and destruction. The dissolution of all things is of four kinds; Naimittika, 'occasional;' Prákritika, 'elemental;' Atyantika, 'absolute;' Nitya, 'perpetual: The first, also termed the Bráhma dissolution, occurs when the sovereign of the world reclines in sleep. In the second, the mundane egg resolves into the primary element, from whence it was derived. Absolute non-existence of the world is the absorption of the sage, through knowledge, into supreme spirit. Perpetual destruction is the constant disappearance, day and night, of all that are born. The productions of Prakriti form the creation that is termed the elemental (Prákrita). That which ensues after a (minor) dissolution is called ephemeral creation: and the daily generation of living things is termed, by those who are versed in the Puráńas, constant creation. In this manner the mighty Vishńu, whose essence is the elements, abides in all bodies, and brings about production, existence, and dissolution. The faculties of Vishńu to create, to preserve, and to destroy, operate successively, Maitreya, in all corporeal beings and at all seasons; and he who frees himself from the influence of these three faculties, which are essentially composed of the three qualities (goodness, foulness, and darkness), goes to the supreme sphere, from whence he never again returns. > — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition ## Translations (2) - [The Vishnu Purana: A System of Hindu Mythology and Tradition](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu~en-wilson.1.7.7) — Horace Hayman Wilson 1840, English - [A Prose English Translation of Vishnupuranam](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu~en-dutt.1.7.p3) — Manmatha Nath Dutt 1896, English ## Commentaries (3) - [Vaiṣṇavakūṭacandrikā Viṣṇupurāṇaṭīkā](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu!ratnagarbha.p40) — Ratnagarbhamiśra, Sanskrit - [Ātmaprakāśa](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu!sridhara.8.44) — Śrīdhara Svāmin, Sanskrit - [Viṣṇucittīya](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu!visnucitta.7.40) — Sanskrit ## Other recensions (1) - [Viṣṇupurāṇa (vulgate)](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu*vulgate.1.7.43) — Sanskrit ## Linked texts (1) - [History of Dharmaśāstra (Ancient and Mediaeval Religious and Civil Law in India)](https://indike.org/pramana/ins.polity.kane-1930.v6.c82.787) — P. V. Kane, English --- Source: [https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.36-44](https://indike.org/pramana/in.purana.visnu.1.7.36-44) · Pramāṇa