Varaha Purana 14.5: Adhyaya 14, Shloka 5

Ritual Procedure for Śrāddha: Sequence, Eligibility, and Offerings to Ancestors

Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-śāstric Ethics (Social Transgressions and Exclusions)

Devanagari script

मित्रध्रुक् कुनखी चैव श्यावदन्तस्तथा द्विजः । कन्यादूषयिता वह्निवेदोज्झः सोमविक्रयी ॥ १४.५ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 14.5

Transliteration

mitradhruk kunakhī caiva śyāvadantas tathā dvijaḥ | kanyādūṣayitā vahnivedojjhaḥ somavikrayī || 14.5 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

Wer einen Freund verrät, wer entstellte Nägel hat, ein Dvija mit verfärbten Zähnen, wer eine Jungfrau schändet, wer die heiligen Feuer und die Veden vernachlässigt, und wer Soma verkauft — diese werden hier als verwerfliche Personen aufgeführt.

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Word by Word

• मित्रध्रुक्: one who betrays friends
• Type: Noun
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (मित्रं द्रुह्यति इति); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: मित्र + द्रुह् (धातु; प्रातिपदिक -ध्रुक्)

• कुनखी: one with bad/deformed nails
• Type: Adjective
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (कु-नखः यस्य); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण (of dvijaḥ)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: कु + नखिन् (प्रातिपदिक)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• एव: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण
• Role: Nipata (निपात)
• Root: एव (अव्यय)

• श्यावदन्तः: one with dark teeth
• Type: Adjective
• Form: कर्मधारय-समास (श्यावाः दन्ताः यस्य); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; विशेषण
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: श्याव + दन्त (प्रातिपदिक)

• तथा: also
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चय (also)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)

• द्विजः: a Brahmin (twice-born)
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: द्विज (प्रातिपदिक)

• कन्यादूषयिता: defiler of a maiden
• Type: Noun
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (कन्यां दूषयति इति); कर्तरि कृदन्त (agent noun), पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: कन्या + दूषयितृ (कृदन्त; √दूष् धातु)

• वह्निवेदोज्झः: one who has abandoned fire-rites and the Veda
• Type: Noun
• Form: द्वन्द्व-समास (वह्निः च वेदः च) + ‘उज्झ’ (त्यागी/परित्यक्ता); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: वह्नि + वेद + उज्झ (प्रातिपदिक)

• सोमविक्रयी: seller of Soma
• Type: Noun
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (सोमं विक्रीणाति/विक्रयति इति); पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: सोम + विक्रयिन् (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• चैव = च + एव. vahnivedojjhaḥ analyzed as vahni-veda (dvandva) + ujjha (abandoner)
• orthography shows internal sandhi: वेद + उज्झ → वेदोज्झ

Speaker and setting

Bibhatsa and Raudra rasaSetting: Normative-ritual context

Speaker

Varāha

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Moral causality and social contagion (saṃsarga-doṣa)

Subjects

EthicsRitual ConductSocial Norms

Core idea

Ritual is not mechanically efficacious; ethical breaches (betrayal, sexual violence, sacrilege, commodifying soma) rupture ṛta/dharma and pollute communal rites.

In practice

For communal/ancestral ceremonies, apply ethical screening: prioritize integrity and reverence; do not normalize grave harms by granting ritual honor.

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Ethics
• Dharmaśāstra Interface
• Vaiṣṇavism

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a Purāṇic cataloging style that overlaps with Dharma-śāstric discourse, listing behaviors and ritual violations treated as socially and morally censurable within premodern normative literature.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic location is explicitly named in this verse; it is a thematic ethical list rather than a sacred-geography passage.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse frames betrayal, sexual violation, neglect of ritual/Vedic obligations, and commodification of soma as serious transgressions, functioning as a cautionary ethical taxonomy.