Varaha Purana 136.4: Adhyaya 136, Shloka 4
A Sūtra-like Manual of Expiations for Ritual Transgressions
Uttara Bhāga · Prāyaścitta-karmasūtra (Promise of Remediation)
मद्भक्तश्चैव जायेत शुद्धे भागवते गृहे ॥ प्रायश्चित्तं प्रवक्ष्यामि दीपस्य स्पर्शनाद्भुवि
madbhaktaś caiva jāyeta śuddhe bhāgavate gṛhe | prāyaścittaṁ pravakṣyāmi dīpasya sparśanād bhuvi ||
madbhaktashchaiva jAyeta shuddhe bhAgavate gRRihe || prAyashchittaM pravakShyAmi dIpasya sparshanAdbhuvi
وحقًّا يولدُ مُحبًّا لي، في بيتٍ طاهرٍ لِبهاگافتا. وسأبيّنُ على الأرضِ كفّارةَ مسِّ المصباح.
Varāha
Expiation is not only penalty-removal; it reorients life toward devotion and pure association.
When faults occur in worship, perform prescribed remedies and deepen Bhāgavata-satsanga—study, service, and disciplined pūjā.
Varāha promises Bhū-devī to explain the expiation; frames outcome as rebirth into a Bhāgavata household devoted to him.
Varāha as ‘teacher of purification’ integrates karma (expiation) with bhakti (rebirth among devotees), showing the avatāra’s role as moral governor and grace-giver.
From ritual fault (dīpa-sparśa) to ritual remedy (prāyaścitta): the deity presides over both transgression-detection and purification, like yajña’s regulating intelligence (ṛta).
Bhakti is presented as a purifying destiny: association with sādhus/Bhāgavatas becomes a vehicle for liberation-oriented transformation beyond mere ritual bookkeeping.
Expiation is prescribed for the lamp-touch offence; the mitigated trajectory includes rebirth as a devotee in a pure Bhāgavata family.
Proper prāyaścitta and kṣetra-contact transform the karmic stream toward bhakti and purer rebirth; omission leaves the harsh consequences intact.
Bhāgavata household devotion foreshadows later Vaiṣṇava bhakti culture centered on Kṛṣṇa, though not explicitly named here.
Varāha Purāṇa 136.1 (offence); Varāha Purāṇa 136.2–136.3 (consequences and kṣetra effect)
FAQs
It frames expiation not only as removal of fault but as reintegration into a ‘pure’ devotional social setting, reflecting the Purāṇic blending of ritual and bhakti idioms.
No specific place-name is given; ‘bhuvi’ indicates the earthly sphere in general.
That a defined expiation exists for the specified offence, and that purification is articulated through both ritual correction and moral-social reorientation.
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