Varaha Purana 3.23: Adhyaya 3, Shloka 23

Nārada’s Account of a Former Birth and a Hymn to Nārāyaṇa

Devanagari script

ब्रह्मणो युगसहस्रं तत्ते तस्मात् समुद्भवः । भविता ते तथा नाम दास्यते संप्रयोजनम् ॥ ३.२३ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 3.23

Transliteration

brahmaṇo yugasahasraṃ tat te tasmāt samudbhavaḥ | bhavitā te tathā nāma dāsyate saṃprayojanam || 3.23 ||

Translation

Er sprach: „Tausend Yugas bilden das Zeitmaß Brahmās; daraus geht dein Hervortreten hervor. Ebenso wird dir ein Name zuteilwerden, und sein angemessener Gebrauch (Zweck) wird festgelegt werden.“

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Word by Word

• brahmaṇaḥ: of Brahmā/of brahman
• brahmaṇaḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: brahman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Genitive (षष्ठी) Singular

• yuga-sahasram: a thousand yugas
• yuga-sahasram: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (काल-अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yuga (प्रातिपदिक) + sahasra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘yugānāṃ sahasram’; Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular (context: measure)

• tat: that
• tat: Karma (कर्म/ellipsis)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular; refers to the said matter/period

• te: to you/for you
• te: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Dative (चतुर्थी) Singular (enclitic)

• tasmāt: from that/thereafter
• tasmāt: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Ablative adverbial form; Ablative (पञ्चमी) Singular used adverbially

• samudbhavaḥ: arising/origin
• samudbhavaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: samudbhava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Nominative Singular

• bhavitā: will be
• bhavitā: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: bhū (धातु) + tṛ (कृत् प्रत्यय)
• Form: Kṛdanta agent noun (तृन्) used as future periphrastic sense; Masculine, Nominative Singular; ‘will be’

• te: your
• te: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Pronoun; Genitive (षष्ठी) Singular (enclitic)

• tathā: thus/so
• tathā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb

• nāma: name
• nāma: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāman (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular

• dāsyate: will be given
• dāsyate: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dā (धातु)
• Form: Future (लृट्), 3rd person Singular, Ātmanepada; passive/impersonal sense ‘will be given’

• saṃprayojanam: purpose/assignment
• saṃprayojanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃprayojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative Singular

Speaker

Varāha

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Cosmology
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Sanskrit Philology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a standard Purāṇic cosmological idiom that frames events within vast temporal units (yugas), aligning narrative history with a doctrinal time-reckoning system associated with Brahmā.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic location is named in this verse; the content is primarily cosmological and conceptual (time-measure, origin, and naming).

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Rather than a direct moral injunction, the verse emphasizes an ordered cosmos in which entities have an origin, a designated name, and an intended function (nāma and prayojana), supporting a philosophical view of intelligible structure and purpose.