Skip to main content

ŚB 5.20.8

Devanagari

यत्र ह वै शाल्मली प्लक्षायामा यस्यां वाव किल निलयमाहुर्भगवतश्छन्द: स्तुत: पतत्‍त्रिराजस्य सा द्वीपहूतये उपलक्ष्यते ॥ ८ ॥

Text

yatra ha vai śālmalī plakṣāyāmā yasyāṁ vāva kila nilayam āhur bhagavataś chandaḥ-stutaḥ patattri-rājasya sā dvīpa-hūtaye upalakṣyate.

Synonyms

yatra — where; ha vai — certainly; śālmalī — a śālmalī tree; plakṣa-āyāmā — as big as the plakṣa tree (one hundred yojanas broad and eleven hundred yojanas high); yasyām — in which; vāva kila — indeed; nilayam — rest or living place; āhuḥ — they say; bhagavataḥ — of the most powerful; chandaḥ-stutaḥ — who worships the Lord by Vedic prayers; patattri-rājasya — of Garuḍa, the carrier of Lord Viṣṇu; — that tree; dvīpa-hūtaye — for the name of the island; upalakṣyate — is distinguished.

Translation

On Sālmalīdvīpa there is a śālmalī tree, from which the island takes its name. That tree is as broad and tall as the plakṣa tree — in other words 100 yojanas [800 miles] broad and 1,100 yojanas [8,800 miles] tall. Learned scholars say that this gigantic tree is the residence of Garuḍa, the king of all birds and carrier of Lord Viṣṇu. In that tree, Garuḍa offers Lord Viṣṇu his Vedic prayers.