Varaha Purana 207.16 — Adhyaya 207, Shloka 16
Section on the ‘Person’ who Entices Beings within the Cycle of Rebirth
यम उवाच ॥ गच्छन्ति हि नराः घोराः बहवोऽधर्मनिर्मितम् ॥ बन्धान्श्च सुबहूंस्तत्र प्राप्नुवन्ति तपोधन ॥
yama uvāca || gacchanti hi narā ghorā bahavo 'dharmanirmitam || bandhānś ca subahūṃs tatra prāpnuvanti tapodhana ||
Yama sprach: Wahrlich, viele furchtbare Menschen gehen in jenes Reich, das aus Adharma hervorgebracht ist; und dort, o Schatz der Askese, ziehen sie viele Fesseln und strafende Bindungen auf sich.
Yama
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None (this verse begins the answer: many go to the adharma-made realm and receive many bonds)."}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"narakas","instruction_summary":"Adharma constructs the ‘ghora’ realm (naraka); those who commit it are bound by many punitive restraints there.","karmic_consequence":"Adharmic conduct results in confinement, bondage, and fearsome suffering in naraka; dharmic restraint avoids such bonds."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"cosmic justice / karmic retribution","core_concept":"Naraka is not arbitrary: it is ‘adharma-nirmita’—a consequence-structure generated by unrighteous action, experienced as bondage and restraint.","practical_application":"Treat ethical lapses as self-forged chains; cultivate dharma and timely prāyaścitta to prevent the ‘bandha’ of consequences."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Cosmology"]
Primary Rasa: bhayānaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
Type: otherworldly realm (punitive)
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 207.16 (question on naraka-causes); Continuation expected: subsequent verses detailing specific sins and punishments (not provided)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Yama speaks from his court, declaring that many go to the dreadful adharma-born realm and are seized by numerous bonds; the atmosphere is judicial and ominous.","item_prompts":["Yama seated with daṇḍa (staff)","noose (pāśa) and chains (bandha)","dark gate to naraka","attendant figures (yamadūtas)","austere sage-listener (tapo-dhana) in foreground"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: Yama with greenish/dark complexion, ornate crown, pāśa in hand; yamadūtas stylized; strong reds/blacks, temple-court setting.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: Yama enthroned with gold-leaf crown and halo; embossed chains and pāśa; dramatic but formal court composition.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: dignified Yama with refined ornamentation; emphasis on judicial posture and symbolic restraints rather than horror.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: simplified Yama court with narrative clarity; muted dark palette, expressive gestures, minimal attendants."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"authoritative, admonitory","suggested_raga":"Darbari Kanada","pace":"slow-medium","voice_tone":"deep, commanding, measured like a judge’s pronouncement"}
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic juridical imagination in which Yama functions as an ethical adjudicator; the verse frames suffering as an outcome of adharma rather than as an arbitrary punishment.
No specific terrestrial or pilgrimage geography is named; the verse refers to a moral-cosmological ‘realm’ associated with adharma.
Unrighteous conduct (adharma) leads to restrictive consequences described as ‘bonds’ and punitive conditions.
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