Varaha Purana 2.12: Adhyaya 2, Shloka 12

Cosmogony and the Ninefold Creation: Rudra’s Origin and the Prelude to the Sāvitrī-Veda Narrative

Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmogony / Sṛṣṭi (Creation Narrative)

Devanagari script

एवंभूतस्य मे देवि नाभिपद्मे चतुर्मुखः । उत्तस्थौ स मया प्रोक्तः प्रजाः सृज महामते ॥ २.१२ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 2.12

Transliteration

evaṁbhūtasya me devi nābhi-padme caturmukhaḥ | uttasthau sa mayā proktaḥ prajāḥ sṛja mahāmate || 2.12 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

أيتها الإلهة، لما كنتُ على تلك الحال نهض ذو الوجوه الأربعة على لوتس سرّتي. فقلتُ له: «يا عظيم الهمة، اخلق الكائنات.»

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Word by Word

• एवं-भूतस्य: of me being thus
• Type: Adjective
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी विभक्ति (Genitive), एकवचन; समासः—एवंविधः भूतः (of one who is thus)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Root: एवम् (अव्यय) + भूत (प्रातिपदिक)

• मे: of me
• Type: Noun
• Form: षष्ठी विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• देवि: O goddess
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: देवी (प्रातिपदिक)

• नाभि-पद्मे: in the navel-lotus
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी विभक्ति (Locative), एकवचन; समासः—नाभेः पद्मम् (lotus in the navel)
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Root: नाभि (प्रातिपदिक) + पद्म (प्रातिपदिक)

• चतुर्मुखः: the four-faced one (Brahmā)
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; बहुव्रीहिः—चत्वारि मुखानि यस्य (four-faced, i.e., Brahmā)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: चतुर् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक) + मुख (प्रातिपदिक)

• उत्तस्थौ: arose/stood up
• Type: Verb
• Form: लिट् लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन, परस्मैपद
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Root: उत् + स्था (धातु)

• सः: he
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• मया: by me
• Type: Noun
• Form: तृतीया विभक्ति, एकवचन
• Role: Karana (करण)
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• प्रोक्तः: was instructed
• Type: Verb
• Form: भूतकृत् (past passive participle), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मणि—‘was told/was instructed’
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: प्र + वच् (धातु) → प्रोक्त (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक)

• प्रजाः: creatures/subjects
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, द्वितीया विभक्ति (Accusative/कर्म), बहुवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: प्रजा (प्रातिपदिक)

• सृज: create
• Type: Verb
• Form: लोट् लकार (Imperative), मध्यमपुरुष (2nd person), एकवचन, परस्मैपद
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Root: सृज् (धातु)

• महामते: O great-minded one
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन विभक्ति, एकवचन; समासः—महती मतिः यस्याः/यस्य (O great-minded)
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: महामति (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• एवंभूतस्य→एवम्+भूतस्य
• नाभिपद्मे→नाभि+पद्मे
• उत्तस्थौ (लिट्)
• महामते (सम्बोधन)

Speaker and setting

Shanta and Vira rasaSetting: Cosmic locus

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Receptive; learning her cosmological genealogy and the administrative structure of creation

What she asks

How does secondary creation begin—who is empowered to create beings, and by whose command?

The teaching

Path

Theology/teleology

Subjects

CosmologyCreation Narrative

Core idea

Creation proceeds by divine will expressed as instruction; Brahmā is commissioned to generate beings.

In practice

See duty (svadharma) as best performed when aligned with higher injunction; leadership as delegated responsibility, not autonomous power.

The Varaha avatara

With the Earth

Direct address to ‘devī’; Varāha narrates Brahmā’s arising on the navel-lotus and his own instruction to Brahmā to create beings—teaching Bhū-devī the chain of delegated creation.

Symbolism of the boar

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Narrative
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Sanskrit Cosmology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a widely attested Purāṇic cosmogonic motif—Brahmā arising from the nābhi-padma (navel-lotus) of a supreme being—used to frame creation as an ordered, delegated process within early medieval Sanskrit narrative theology.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic location is named in this verse; the setting is cosmological (the nābhi-padma motif) rather than tied to a specific terrestrial site.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse emphasizes responsibility through delegated agency: creation (and by extension governance of beings) is presented as a purposeful task assigned to an appointed creator, highlighting order, duty, and intentional action rather than randomness.