Varaha Purana 113.20: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 20
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Pṛthivī-uddhāra (Earth-Restoration) and Avatāra Reminiscence
पुनर्वराहरूपेण मां गच्छन्तीं रसातले ॥ उज्जहारैकदंष्ट्रेण भवानेव महार्णवात्
punarvarāharūpeṇa māṃ gacchantīṃ rasātale || ujjahāraikadaṃṣṭreṇa bhavāneva mahārṇavāt
punarvarAharUpeNa mAM gachChantIM rasAtale || ujjahArekadaMShTreNa bhavAneva mahArNavAt
Wiederum, in der Gestalt des Varāha, hast du selbst mich aus dem großen Ozean emporgehoben, als ich nach Rasātala hinabsank, mit nur einem einzigen Hauer.
Sandhi Notes
- punarvarāharūpeṇa → punar + varāha-rūpeṇa
- ujjahāraikadaṃṣṭreṇa → ujjahāra + eka-daṃṣṭreṇa
- bhavāneva → bhavān + eva
- mahārṇavāt → mahā-arṇavāt
Pṛthivī
Burdened and endangered (sinking toward Rasātala), speaking with gratitude and remembrance
Implicit: who but you can rescue and re-establish me when I fall into the nether depths?
When the very ground of order collapses, divine compassion and power restore stability; the world is upheld not merely by mechanics but by īśvara’s will.
In संकट (crisis), cultivate remembrance (smaraṇa) of the rescuer; align actions with restoration—protect land, life, and dharma as participation in Varāha’s ‘uplift’.
Lifted with a single tusk (ekadaṃṣṭra)
Varāha rescues Bhū-devī by physically raising her from the great ocean as she sinks toward Rasātala
Varāha as the cosmic rescuer who re-lifts the ‘support of beings’ (Earth) from submergence—restoring the field for dharma, yajña, and life.
The single tusk functions as the lifting implement (like a ritual lever/pole), emphasizing decisive divine agency; the ‘great ocean’ evokes undifferentiated waters from which ordered world is raised.
Uplift from rasātala mirrors liberation from the ‘depths’ of tamas/avidyā; īśvara raises the locus of experience (kṣetra) so beings can pursue puruṣārthas.
Varāha-uddhāra episode as thematic center for the Varāha Purāṇa
FAQs
It preserves a key Purāṇic motif—Earth’s restoration (Pṛthivī-uddhāra)—which functions as a cultural memory of cosmic order (dharma) being re-established after disruption.
Rasātala is a netherworld realm in Purāṇic cosmography; it is not a mappable terrestrial site but a conceptual ‘lower region’ within a multi-tiered universe.
The verse frames restoration and protection of the world as a central responsibility of ideal sovereignty—cosmic care rather than domination.
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