Adhyaya 53 — The Great Flood
तपस्तेपे महाभागः पुलहाश्रमसंश्रयः ।
हिमाह्विं दक्षिणं वर्षं भरताय पिता ददौ ॥
tapas tepe mahābhāgaḥ pulahāśramasaṃśrayaḥ |
himāhviṃ dakṣiṇaṃ varṣaṃ bharatāya pitā dadau ||
ولما لجأ ذلك السعيد إلى ناسكِيةِ بولها (Pulaha) أقام رياضاتٍ وزهداً. وأعطى أبوهُ لبهاراتا إقليمَ الجنوب المسمّى «هِمَاهْفا» (Himāhva).
The verse juxtaposes worldly allotment (a father granting territory) with ascetic merit (tapas at a ṛṣi’s āśrama), underscoring the Purāṇic ideal that rulership and renunciation can be sequential duties within a righteous life.
Primarily Manvantara and Vaṃśānucarita: it belongs to the dynastic account within a Manu-period narrative, linking regions (varṣas) to ancestral rulers.
‘South’ and ‘Himā-’ imagery can be read symbolically as the descent of sovereignty into the manifest world, while the āśrama setting points to tapas as the inner foundation that legitimizes outer authority.