Varaha Purana 196.2 - Adhyaya 196, Shloka 2

Varaha Purana 196.2: Adhyaya 196, Shloka 2

Description of the City of Dharmarāja

Yama

Devanagari script

नाचिकेत उवाच ॥ श्रूयतां द्विजशार्दूलाः कथ्यमानं मया द्विजाः ॥ योजनानां सहस्रं तु विस्ताराद्द्विगुणायतम् ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 196.2

Transliteration

nāciketa uvāca || śrūyatāṁ dvijaśārdūlāḥ kathyamānaṁ mayā dvijāḥ || yojanānāṁ sahasraṁ tu vistārād dviguṇāyatam

Translation

قال ناتشيكيتا: «اسمعوا يا أسودَ/نمورَ ذوي الولادتين؛ سأصفه لكم يا دْفِجا. عرضه ألفُ يوجانا، وطوله ضعفُ ذلك».

Word by Word

nāciketaḥNāciketa

uvācasaid

śrūyatāmlet it be heard

dvija-śārdūlāḥO tigers among the twice-born (Brahmins)

kathyamānambeing told; being narrated

mayāby me

dvijāḥO twice-born (ones)

yojanānāmof yojanas

sahasrama thousand

tuindeed; but

vistārātin breadth; as to breadth (from the standpoint of breadth)

dvi-guṇa-āyatamtwice as long; of double length

Speaker

Nāciketa

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It illustrates Purāṇic use of metrological language (yojana) to render cosmographic descriptions vivid and systematic.

Which geographic location is identified?

The passage describes Dharmarāja’s (Yama’s) city as a mythic/otherworldly space rather than a historically mappable terrestrial location.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Indirectly, it prepares an imaginative setting for moral consequence narratives by describing the realm associated with judgment and order (dharma).

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