Varaha Purana 136.52: Adhyaya 136, Shloka 52
A Sūtra-like Manual of Expiations for Ritual Transgressions
तस्य वक्ष्यामि सुश्रोणि प्रायश्चित्तं महौजसम् ॥ किल्बिषाद्येन मुच्येत संसारान्तं च गच्छति
tasya vakṣyāmi suśroṇi prāyaścittaṃ mahaujasam || kilbiṣād yena mucyeta saṃsārāntaṃ ca gacchati
Darum werde ich, o Schönhüftige, eine machtvolle Sühne verkünden, durch die man von Sünde befreit wird und das Ende des Saṃsāra erreicht.
Varāha
Varāha promises Bhū-devī a ‘powerful’ prāyaścitta that frees from sin and leads to saṃsāra’s termination.
What expiation has the strength to remove sin and carry one to the end of saṃsāra (mokṣa/parama-gati)?
hopeful, intent on liberation-teaching
Varāha declares an efficacious expiation whose fruit is both pāpa-kṣaya and saṃsāra-nivṛtti.
Proper performance yields release from sin and ultimate transcendence of rebirth; neglect leaves one bound to recurring gati.
Not specified here (details follow in subsequent verses)
Pāpa-mokṣa and saṃsāra-anta (cessation of rebirth), attainment of highest goal.
Varāha as the salvific Lord whose ‘teaching of expiation’ functions like yajña that burns impurity; prāyaścitta is framed as a ritual-ethical bridge to liberation.
Implicit: ‘mahaujasaḥ’ (great potency) evokes the sacrificial fire’s power to consume kṛta-kilbiṣa.
Sin is treated as avidyā-born bondage; disciplined expiation and devotion to the Lord become upāya toward nivṛtti (turning away from saṃsāra).
Atonement joined with divine orientation can culminate not merely in improved rebirth but in saṃsāra’s cessation.
Undertake expiation with faith (śraddhā), restraint, and devotion, aiming at inner transformation rather than mere ritual compliance.
Varāha Purāṇa 136.58 (specific observance details); Varāha Purāṇa 136.59 (fruit: my world; warning about improper offering)
FAQs
It exemplifies Purāṇic soteriological language where expiation is linked to liberation-oriented goals, reflecting later Hindu ethical-ritual synthesis.
None; the verse is doctrinal/ethical rather than topographical.
Acknowledging wrongdoing (kilbiṣa) and undertaking corrective discipline (prāyaścitta) is presented as transformative.
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