Varaha Purana - Adhyaya 131
Varaha PuranaAdhyaya 13111 Shlokas

Adhyaya 131: Expiation for Chewing the Tooth-stick (Dantakāṣṭha)

Dantakāṣṭha-carvaṇa-prāyaścitta

Ritual-Manual

Dieses Adhyāya ist als belehrender Dialog zwischen Varāha und Pṛthivī über rituelle Reinheit und die ethischen Folgen des täglichen Handelns gestaltet. Varāha erklärt, wer sich ihm nähere, nachdem er ein dantakāṣṭha (Zahnreinigungsstäbchen) gekaut habe, könne zuvor angesammeltes Fehlverhalten aufheben, da diese Handlung als machtvolle Läuterung gilt. Pṛthivī, im Dharma verwurzelt, fragt nach der inneren Logik: Wie könne ein einzelner Fehltritt oder Akt umfangreiches Karma auslöschen, das gewöhnlich großes Leiden nach sich zieht? Varāha antwortet mit einer Lehre über körperliche Unreinheit: Der Mund sei erfüllt von Schleim, Galle, Blut, Eiter und üblem Geruch; das Kauen des Zahnstäbchens zerstöre den „Samen“ dieser Unreinheit, während zugleich angedeutet wird, dass ohne rechte Lebensführung eine bhāgavata‑gemäße Reinheit verfehlt wird. Daraufhin erbittet Pṛthivī ein Korrektiv für jene, die das Zahnstäbchen ausgelassen, aber dennoch Riten vollzogen haben. Varāha verordnet als prāyaścitta: zwei oder fünf Tage unter freiem Himmel/auf offenem Boden schlafen (ākāśa-śayana) und dabei auf dantakāṣṭha verzichten; so wird das Vergehen getilgt.

Speakers

VarāhaPṛthivī

Key Concepts

dantakāṣṭha (tooth-stick) as a marker of daily purityprāyaścitta (expiation) for ritual lapseskarma-nāśa (attenuation/erasure of prior deeds) through prescribed conductācāra (normative conduct) and bhāgavata-śuddhi (devotional purity)corporeal impurity as a rationale for ritual regulationākāśa-śayana (sleeping under the open sky) as ascetic penance
Recitation with translationVaraha Purana Adhyaya 131

Shlokas in Adhyaya 131

Verse 1

अथ दन्तकाष्ठाचर्वणप्रायश्चित्तम् ॥ श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ दन्तकाष्ठमचरवित्वा यो हि मामुपसर्पति ॥ पूर्वकालकृतं कर्म तेन चैकेन नश्यति

Nun folgt die Sühne hinsichtlich des Nichtkauens eines Zahn-hölzchens. Śrī Varāha sprach: „Wer sich Mir nähert, ohne ein Zahnhölzchen gekaut zu haben—durch diese eine Handlung wird eine in früherer Zeit begangene Tat vernichtet.“

Verse 2

नारायणवचः श्रुत्वा पृथिवी धर्मसंश्रितः ॥ विष्णुभक्तसुखार्थाय हृषीकेशमुवाच ह

Nachdem Pṛthivī die Worte Nārāyaṇas vernommen hatte, sprach sie—im Dharma gegründet—zu Hṛṣīkeśa, zum Wohlergehen der Verehrer Viṣṇus.

Verse 3

धरण्युवाच ॥ सर्वकालकृतं कर्म क्लेशेन महताऽनघ ॥ कथमेकापराधेन सर्वमेव प्रणश्यति ॥

Pṛthivī sprach: „O Makelloser, wie kann durch ein einziges Vergehen das gesamte Karma, das über lange Zeit unter großer Mühsal erworben wurde, vernichtet werden?“

Verse 4

श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ शृणु सुन्दरी तत्त्वेन कथ्यमानं मयाऽनघे ॥ येन चैका पराधेन पूर्वकर्म प्रणश्यति ॥

Śrī Varāha sprach: „Höre, o Schöne, o Tadellose; ich werde dir dem Wesen nach darlegen, wodurch ein einziges Vergehen das frühere Karma zugrunde richtet.“

Verse 5

मनुष्यः किल्बिषी भद्रे कफपित्तसमन्वितः ॥ पूयशोणितसम्पूर्णं दुर्गन्धि मुखमस्य तत् ॥

„Der Mensch, o gütige Frau, ist von Makel befleckt; von Schleim und Galle begleitet, ist sein Mund voll Eiter und Blut und übelriechend.“

Verse 6

तत्सर्वबीजं नश्येत दन्तकाष्ठस्य भक्षणात् ॥ शुद्धिर्भागवती चैव आचारेण विवर्जिता ॥

„Durch das Kauen des Zahn-hölzchens (dantakāṣṭha) wird jener ganze ‘Same’ (Grund) vernichtet; und auch die dem Bhagavān geweihte Reinheit wird ausgeschlossen, wenn rechtes Verhalten fehlt.“

Verse 7

धरण्युवाच ॥ दन्तकाष्ठमखादित्वा यः कर्माणि करोति ते ॥ प्रायश्चित्तं च मे ब्रूहि येन धर्मो न नश्यति ॥

Pṛthivī sprach: „Sage mir auch die Sühne (prāyaścitta), durch die das Dharma nicht zugrunde geht bei dem, der die Riten vollzieht, nachdem er das Zahnhölzchen nicht gekaut hat.“

Verse 8

श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ एवमेतन्महाभागे यन्मां त्वं परिपृच्छसि ॥ कथयिष्यामि हीदं ते यथा शुध्यन्ति मानवाः ॥

Śrī Varāha sprach: „So ist es, o edle Dame, wie du mich fragst. Ich werde es dir darlegen — wie die Menschen gereinigt werden.“

Verse 9

आकाशशयनं कृत्वा दिनानि द्वे च पञ्च च ॥ अभुक्तदन्तकाष्ठाश्च एवं शुध्यन्ति मानवाः ॥

„Indem man das Gelübde des ‚Schlafens unter freiem Himmel‘ zwei Tage oder fünf Tage lang ausführt und vom Verzehr des dantakāṣṭha (Zahnholzstäbchens) absieht, werden die Menschen so gereinigt.“

Verse 10

कुतस्तस्यापराधोऽस्ति एवमेव न संशयः ॥

„Wie könnte in seinem Fall ein Vergehen bestehen? Genau so ist es; daran besteht kein Zweifel.“

Verse 11

एवं ते कथितं भद्रे दन्तकाष्ठस्य भक्षणम् ॥ य एतेन विधानेन प्रायश्चित्तं समाचरेत् ॥

„So, o gute Dame, ist dir das Thema des Verzehrs von dantakāṣṭha (Zahnholzstäbchen) dargelegt worden. Wer die Sühnehandlung (prāyaścitta) nach dieser Vorschrift vollzieht …“

Inside Adhyaya 131

How it unfolds

  1. Where it opens

    Varāha and Pṛthivī enter a dharma-śāstra style discussion on daily ācāra and ritual purity, focusing on the ethical weight of seemingly minor bodily practices (especially oral cleanliness).

  2. Central event

    Varāha asserts a striking claim: approaching him after chewing a dantakāṣṭha can nullify previously accumulated wrongdoing; Pṛthivī challenges the karmic logic of how a single act could erase extensive past demerit.

  3. Climax resolution

    Varāha justifies the rule through a corporeal-impurity rationale—depicting the mouth as a locus of phlegm, bile, blood, pus, and foul odor—and frames dantakāṣṭha as destroying the ‘seed’ of impurity; he then provides a corrective prāyaścitta for those who omitted the tooth-stick yet performed rites: ākāśa-śayana for two or five days with abstention related to dantakāṣṭha.

Geographical context

No explicit historical sites, rivers, regions, or sacred groves are mentioned in this adhyāya; the setting is a dialogic, non-localized instructional context between Varāha and Pṛthivī.

Ritual instructions

  • Primary RitualPrāyaścitta for omission/irregularity concerning dantakāṣṭha in the context of ritual performance
  • BenefitRemoval of the specific doṣa connected with improper/omitted dantakāṣṭha discipline and restoration of ritual-moral purity (śuddhi) for continued bhāgavata-oriented conduct.

The narrative frame

  • VarāhaPṛthivī · Didactic, juridical-dharmic, with a probing objection-and-resolution structure (pṛcchā–uttara) centered on karmic proportionality and bodily purity.

The emotional journey

  • Dominant RasaŚānta
  • Emotional ProgressionFrom normative instruction → intellectual doubt about karmic mechanics → vivid confrontation with bodily impurity → reassurance through a clear, bounded expiation that re-stabilizes dharma.

Planning a pilgrimage

  • Visit FeasibilityNot applicable as a site-based pilgrimage chapter; the teaching is portable and practice-oriented rather than tied to a named tīrtha.

Frequently Asked Questions

The chapter frames everyday bodily discipline (especially oral cleanliness and regulated conduct) as ethically consequential: the text instructs that correct practice surrounding dantakāṣṭha and prescribed expiation for lapses functions to restore ritual and moral order, presented through a debate on how a single act can affect accumulated karma.

No lunar phases (tithi), months, or seasonal markers are specified. The only timing given is duration: the prāyaścitta is to be undertaken for either two days or five days (dināni dve ca pañca ca), along with ākāśa-śayana and abstention related to dantakāṣṭha.

Environmental stewardship is implicit rather than explicit: Pṛthivī’s role as the questioning Earth foregrounds a terrestrial-ethical lens in which personal conduct (ācāra) is treated as part of maintaining dharma. The dialogue suggests that disciplined daily practices and corrective penances contribute to social-ritual stability, which the text often associates with the well-being of the Earth as a moral-ecological order.

No royal lineages, sages, or administrative figures are named in this passage. The only figures explicitly present are Varāha (as instructor) and Pṛthivī (as dharma-oriented interlocutor).

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