Varaha Purana 21.26: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 26
The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmogonic Narratives (Sṛṣṭi and Prajā-sarga)
अहं पूर्वं तु कविना सृष्टः सर्वात्मना विभुः । प्रजाः सृजस्वेति तदा वाक्यमेतत् तथोक्तवान् ॥ २१.२७ ॥
ahaṃ pūrvaṃ tu kavinā sṛṣṭaḥ sarvātmanā vibhuḥ | prajāḥ sṛjasveti tadā vākyam etat tathoktavān || 21.27 ||
ahaM pUrvaM tu kavinA sRRiShTaH sarvAtmanA vibhuH | prajAH sRRijasveti tadA vAkyametat tathoktavAn || 21.27 ||
„Einst wurde ich — der allumfassende Herr — vom Weisen (dem Dichter-Schöpfer) mit seinem ganzen Wesen hervorgebracht; und damals sprach er genau diese Weisung: ‚Erschaffe die lebenden Wesen.‘“
Sandhi Notes
- सृजस्वेति = सृजस्व + इति
- वाक्यमेतत् = वाक्यम् + एतत्
- तथोक्तवान् = तथा + उक्तवान्
Varāha
Curious; receptive to cosmological instruction
How did the first impulse toward creation arise, and who commissioned the act of generating beings?
Creation begins from a primordial commissioning (ājñā/śabda) addressed to the all-pervading Lord, presenting sṛṣṭi as purposeful and ordered rather than accidental.
Cultivate śraddhā in dharmic order: align personal action with ‘commissioned duty’ (svadharma) as a microcosmic echo of the cosmic injunction to create/maintain life.
Varāha speaks as the all-pervading Self (sarvātmā vibhuḥ) who is ‘brought forth’ for the sake of sṛṣṭi—an idiom for the manifesting of Īśvara’s creative function from the unmanifest; the command ‘create beings’ mirrors the Vedic/Upaniṣadic motif of a primordial injunction initiating differentiated existence.
Implicit yajña-frame: creation as a commissioned rite; the ‘kavi’ (seer-poet/creator) functions like hotṛ/ṛṣi who ‘utters’ the world into order; Varāha as the presiding power that executes the cosmic sacrifice of manifestation.
Bridges saguṇa-īśvara agency with sarvātmā identity: the Lord is both immanent Self and operative creator; suggests nimitta-upādāna proximity (the divine as efficient cause, with creation proceeding through divine will/word).
Varāha–Pṛthivī dialogue framework: cosmology sections preceding the emergence of conflict-beings in 21.21.28-31
FAQs
It preserves a standard Purāṇic cosmogonic motif: a creator-figure (here termed kavi) produces a cosmic agent and issues an imperative to generate beings, reflecting layered authorship and theological synthesis typical of Purāṇic literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; the content is cosmogonic rather than topographical.
The verse frames creation as a purposeful responsibility conveyed through instruction (“Create the beings”), emphasizing ordered generation and stewardship through directed action rather than arbitrary power.
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