Varaha Purana 21.34: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 34
The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share
Pūrva Bhāga · Dakṣa-yajña Narrative (Rudra’s departure to the sacrifice)
एवं कृत्वा स सामग्रीं देवदेवः प्रतापवान् । जगाम दक्षयज्ञाय कोपाद् रुद्रः प्रतापवान् ॥ २१.३५ ॥
evaṃ kṛtvā sa sāmagṛīṃ devadevaḥ pratāpavān | jagāma dakṣayajñāya kopād rudraḥ pratāpavān || 21.35 ||
evaM kRRitvA sa sAmagrIM devadevaH pratApavAn | jagAma dakShayaj~nAya kopAd rudraH pratApavAn || 21.35 ||
وهكذا، بعدما أعدّ ديفاديفا الجليل كلّ ما يلزم من العُدّة، مضى رودرا المقتدر، المتّقد بأسًا، بدافع الغضب إلى يَجْنَة دكشا (قربانه الطقسي).
Sandhi Notes
- दक्षयज्ञाय → दक्ष-यज्ञाय
- कोपाद् → कोपात् (final d before voiced consonant in saṃhitā)
- देवदेवः → देव-देवः
Varāha
Ritual power is real but morally conditioned; arrogance and exclusion invite collapse of the very rite meant to uphold order.
In worship and community rites: prioritize humility, inclusion of rightful participants, and anger-management; repair breaches promptly through reconciliation and corrective rites.
Yajña as cosmic stability: Rudra’s wrathful entry into Dakṣa-yajña dramatizes how divine power can both protect dharma and shatter ritual formalism when pride/offence corrupts it.
‘Sāmagrī’ (materials) foregrounds ritual apparatus; the narrative pivot shows yajña vulnerable to adhikāra-violations and ego.
External ritual without inner purity collapses; the divine is not bound by form—true yajña is alignment with truth and humility.
Anger (kopa) directed into sacrificial disruption is portrayed as a dhārmic crisis; restraint and restoration of ritual order are implied as necessary corrective principles.
Unchecked wrath damages yajña-order and precipitates conflict and loss of merit; restraint/restoration supports communal and cosmic harmony.
Dakṣa-yajña episode continues into mantra-loss and ritual breakdown (next verse)
FAQs
It situates the text within a widely attested Purāṇic narrative cycle (the Dakṣa-yajña episode), reflecting early South Asian ritual discourse and the literary motif of conflict around sacrificial authority.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; it references Dakṣa’s yajña as an event-location rather than a clearly identified toponym in the provided line.
The verse foregrounds anger (kopāt) as a motivating force leading to consequential action, a recurring ethical theme in Purāṇic narrative where emotional impulses shape public and ritual outcomes.
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