Varaha Purana 202.48: Adhyaya 202, Shloka 48
Description of Infernal Punishments and the Ripening of Karmic Consequences
कर्मण्येकैकशश्चायं स तु तिष्ठत्वयं पुनः ॥ वर्षलक्षं न सन्देहस्ततस्तिष्ठत्वयं पुनः
karmaṇy ekaikaśaś cāyaṃ sa tu tiṣṭhatv ayaṃ punaḥ || varṣalakṣaṃ na sandehas tatas tiṣṭhatv ayaṃ punaḥ
Für jede Tat, eine nach der anderen, soll er dort wiederum verweilen; hunderttausend Jahre—ohne Zweifel—danach soll er abermals verweilen.
Varāha (default, instructor voice)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":true}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"attentive; sobered by the scale of consequences","key_question":"How are punishments apportioned deed-by-deed, and what are the time-measures of punitive stay?"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"instruction_summary":"Karmic retribution is itemized: each act yields its own discrete term of suffering, measured in vast durations (e.g., lakṣa-years).","karmic_consequence":"Repeated confinement/torment for each separate misdeed; long punitive durations (hundred-thousand years) before transition to the next phase."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"karmic accounting and temporality","core_concept":"Karma is granular (ekai-kaśas) and temporally extended; consequences unfold sequentially, not as a single undifferentiated penalty.","practical_application":"Treat each unethical act as independently binding; adopt meticulous self-audit (ātma-parīkṣā), confession, and corrective action rather than assuming ‘one penance covers all’."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Karma and retribution","Temporal cosmology (punitive durations)"]
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 202.53 (sins named); Varāha Purāṇa 202.55-57 (post-punishment rebirth impairments)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A cosmic ‘ledger’ of deeds is read out; the sinner is shown moving through repeated stations of punishment, with a vast wheel of time (lakṣa-years) behind.","item_prompts":["Varāha holding a palm-leaf ledger or gesturing as if enumerating","a wheel/clock of yugas or a large numeral motif for lakṣa","multiple compartments/cells indicating ‘again and again’ stays","Yama’s scribes (Citragupta-like) as symbolic attendants"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Segmented narrative panels showing sequential punishments; bold outlines; Varāha central as narrator; time-wheel motif in decorative border.","tanjore_prompt":"Gold-leaf time-wheel halo; embossed ‘ledger’ and stylized compartments; rich ornamentation emphasizing cosmic scale.","mysore_prompt":"Elegant sequential vignettes with fine shading; Varāha’s instructive hand; subtle time symbolism (chakra) in background.","pahari_prompt":"Miniature with stacked registers (tiers) for ‘one by one’; delicate time-wheel; Varāha and Bhū-devī at one side observing."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"solemn, enumerative","suggested_raga":"Darbari Kanada","pace":"measured, slightly segmented to mark ‘one by one’","voice_tone":"authoritative, counting-like cadence on temporal phrases (varṣa-lakṣam)."}
FAQs
It illustrates a Purāṇic idiom for measuring moral consequence through vast time spans, a feature common to karmavipāka narratives.
No location is specified; the verse concerns duration in a punitive state rather than sacred geography.
Actions are treated as individually accountable, with consequences articulated as extended periods of suffering.
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