Varaha Purana 27.31: Adhyaya 27, Shloka 31
The Slaying of Andhaka and the Manifestation of the Eight Mother-Goddesses from Divine Afflictions
कामः क्रोधस्तथा लोभो मदो मोहः अथ पञ्चमः । मात्सर्यं षष्ठमित्याहुः पैशुन्यं सप्तमं तथा । असूया चाष्टमी ज्ञेया इत्येता अष्टमातरः ॥ २७.३२ ॥
kāmaḥ krodhas tathā lobho mado moho 'tha pañcamaḥ | mātsaryaṃ ṣaṣṭham ity āhuḥ paiśunyaṃ saptamaṃ tathā | asūyā cāṣṭamī jñeyā ity etā aṣṭa-mātaraḥ || 27.32 ||
Begierde (kāma), Zorn (krodha) und ebenso Gier (lobha); Rausch des Hochmuts (mada) und Verblendung (moha) als das fünfte; Neid (mātsarya) wird als das sechste bezeichnet und Verleumdung/üble Nachrede (paiśunya) als das siebte; und missgünstiges Fehlersuchen (asūyā) ist als das achte zu erkennen—diese nennt man die acht „Mütter“.
Varāha (default speaker within the Varāha–Pṛthivī dialogue framework)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic and Dharma-śāstra practice of cataloguing internal vices as causal ‘roots’ of ethical decline, useful for tracing continuities with broader Sanskrit moral-psychological lists (e.g., kāma–krodha–lobha triads) across classical literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; it is a moral-psychological enumeration rather than a sacred-geography passage.
The verse identifies eight core negative dispositions—desire, anger, greed, pride/intoxication, delusion, envy, slander, and malice—as foundational generators (‘mothers’) of harmful conduct, implying the importance of recognizing and restraining them.
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