Varaha Purana 155.57 — Adhyaya 155, Shloka 57
The Efficacy and Sacred Merit of Akrūra Tīrtha
मृतस्सुगृहकामेन राक्षसत्वमुपागतः ॥ मया त्वं हि यथा प्राप्त उपकारं कुरुष्व मे ॥
mṛtassugṛhakāmena rākṣasatvam upāgataḥ || mayā tvaṁ hi yathā prāpta upakāraṁ kuruṣva me ||
সুন্দর গৃহের কামনায় মৃত্যুবরণ করে আমি রাক্ষসত্বে উপনীত হয়েছি। এখন তুমি আমার নাগালে এসেছ; অতএব আমার উপকার করো।
Unnamed rākṣasa (within Varāha–Pṛthivī dialogue frame)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"devotee","bhu_devi_state":"burdened","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"prayaschitta","instruction_summary":"Attachment at death (here, craving for a fine house) can propel a degraded post-mortem state; one should render help (upakāra) to afflicted beings when capable.","karmic_consequence":"Clinging desire yields bondage and lower states; compassionate assistance and appropriate expiation can become a cause for release for the sufferer and merit for the helper."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"death-and-attachment (antakāla-smṛti)","core_concept":"The mind’s last dominant attachment shapes the next condition; liberation requires loosening possessiveness and redirecting desire toward dharma.","practical_application":"Cultivate non-attachment through dana and remembrance of Bhagavān; when encountering suffering beings, offer lawful aid (ritual, charity, counsel) rather than indifference."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Heritage Sites"]
Primary Rasa: karuna
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Type: None
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 155.61-63 (cause inquiry and theft confession)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"The rākṣasa, sorrowful and intense, admits his death-time craving for a fine house and begs Sudhana for a specific favor that could free him.","item_prompts":["rākṣasa with pleading hands","Sudhana listening with compassion","faint vision of a grand house as a thought-bubble/ghostly backdrop","atmosphere of liminality (twilight/night)"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: emotive pleading posture, large expressive eyes; spectral mansion motif behind; Sudhana calm, compassionate; deep indigo background.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: central pleading rākṣasa and composed Sudhana; gold-leaf highlights on the ‘house-desire’ vision; ornate frame to heighten moral drama.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: soft modeling of faces; emphasize pathos over horror; subtle luminous aura around Sudhana indicating dharmic capacity to help.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: lyrical twilight scene; small ghostly palace in distance; intimate appeal with delicate linework."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"supplicatory, mournful","suggested_raga":"Puriya Dhanashri","pace":"slow","voice_tone":"low, pleading, with softened consonants to convey lament"}
FAQs
It preserves a common Purāṇic narrative motif: a being describing a post-mortem condition linked to desire and requesting a remedial act, reflecting medieval Sanskrit didactic storytelling around karma and ritual efficacy.
No explicit place-name appears in this verse; the wider passage is framed within a tīrtha narrative later identified as Akrūra-tīrtha.
The verse foregrounds responsibility in responding to requests for aid and frames desire-driven actions as having consequences that may require corrective assistance.
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