Varaha Purana 136.89: Adhyaya 136, Shloka 89

A Sūtra-like Manual of Expiations for Ritual Transgressions

Pūrva Bhāga · Prāyaścitta (Expiation) and Karmic Consequences

Devanagari script

कुणपो जायते भूमे यातुधानो न संशयः ॥ वर्षाणि चैकविंशानि अयस्कारनिवासकः

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 136.89

Transliteration

kuṇapo jāyate bhūme yātudhāno na saṁśayaḥ || varṣāṇi caikaviṁśāni ayaskāranivāsakaḥ

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

يا أيتها الأرض، يولد المرء آكلَ الجيف (kuṇapa)، بل ياتودهانا شريرًا (yātudhāna) بلا ريب، ويقيم إحدى وعشرين سنة بين الحدّادين (ayaskāra).

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Word by Word

• कुणपः: a corpse; carrion-body
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Root: कुणप (प्रातिपदिक)

• जायते: is born; arises
• Type: Verb
• Form: लट्-लकार (Present), प्रथम-पुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन (Singular), आत्मनेपद (Ātmanepada)
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Root: जन् (धातु)

• भूमे: on/in the earth
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (Singular)
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Root: भूमि (प्रातिपदिक)

• यातुधानः: a demon; rākṣasa
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Predicate nominative)
• Root: यातुधान (प्रातिपदिक)

• न: not
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negative particle)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Negation)
• Root: न (अव्यय)

• संशयः: doubt
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—‘doubt’)
• Root: संशय (प्रातिपदिक)

• वर्षाणि: years
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), बहुवचन (Plural)
• Role: Kāla-adhikarana (काल-अधिकरण/Duration)
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• एकविंशानि: twenty-one
• Type: Adjective
• Form: संख्यावाचक-विशेषण (numeral adjective), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), बहुवचन (Plural); समासः द्विगु (Dvigu) = एक + विंशति
• Role: Visheshana (विशेषण/Qualifier of ‘वर्षाणि’)
• Root: एकविंशति (प्रातिपदिक)

• अयस्कारनिवासकः: dweller in an iron-prison/iron-house
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (Singular); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (genitive tatpuruṣa) ‘अयस्कारस्य निवासकः’
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Predicate nominative)
• Root: अयस (प्रातिपदिक) + कार (प्रातिपदिक) + निवासक (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• कुणपो→कुणपः (visarga in pausa)
• भूमे is loc.sg of भूमि
• चैकविंशानि→च + एकविंशानि
• अयस्कारनिवासकः analyzed as tatpuruṣa: अयस्+कार (‘iron-prison/iron-maker’ sense) + निवासक

Speaker and setting

Bhayanaka and Shanta rasa

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Concerned, burdened by beings’ karmic downfall

What she asks

What are the concrete rebirth consequences of specific devotional/ethical transgressions?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Karma and moral causality

Subjects

EthicsKarma and RebirthSocial History

Core idea

Actions—especially in sacred contexts—carry precise karmic results, including species/condition rebirth and time-bound suffering.

In practice

Avoid negligent/defective devotional acts and unethical conduct; treat worship and dharma as causally potent, not symbolic only.

The Varaha avatara

With the Earth

Varāha addresses Bhū-devī directly (“bhūme”), warning of karmic rebirth consequences tied to improper conduct (contextually linked to defective offerings).

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Studies
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Dharmaśāstra Interface

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It illustrates a Purāṇic mode of ethical discourse where moral transgression is expressed through rebirth typologies and socially marked living conditions, useful for studying normative culture and didactic literature.

Which geographic location is identified?

No explicit geographic toponym appears in this verse; it is framed as a general ethical-karmic statement addressed to Pṛthivī (Earth).

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse warns of degrading consequences (rebirth and constrained habitation) as a deterrent against wrongdoing within a prāyaścitta-oriented ethical framework.