Varaha Purana 5.28: Adhyaya 5, Shloka 28

Reconciliation of Action and Knowledge: Offering All Acts to Nārāyaṇa and the Hymn to the Yajña-Puruṣa

Devanagari script

ततो लुब्धोऽब्रवीद्विप्रं एकां ज्वालां महामुने । गृहाण येन शेषाणां करिष्यामीह नाशनम् ॥ ५.२८ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 5.28

Transliteration

tato lubdho ’bravīd vipram ekāṃ jvālāṃ mahāmune | gṛhāṇa yena śeṣāṇāṃ kariṣyāmīha nāśanam || 5.28 ||

Translation

Da sprach der Gierige zum Brāhmaṇa: „O großer Weiser, nimm diese eine Flamme an; durch sie werde ich hier das Übrige vernichten.“

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Word by Word

• tataḥ: then
• tataḥ: Kāla/Anukrama (काल/अनुक्रम)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatas (अव्यय)
• Form: Indeclinable adverb (क्रियाविशेषण-अव्यय)

• lubdhaḥ: the hunter (lit. greedy one)
• lubdhaḥ: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: lubdha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)

• abravīt: said
• abravīt: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √brū (ब्रू धातु)
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada

• vipram: to the brahmin
• vipram: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• ekām: one
• ekām: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन); qualifying jvālām

• jvālām: flame
• jvālām: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: jvālā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

• mahā-mune: O great sage
• mahā-mune: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular (एकवचन); कर्मधारय ‘great sage’

• gṛhāṇa: take (accept)
• gṛhāṇa: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √grah (ग्रह् धातु)
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Ātmanepada

• yena: by which
• yena: Karaṇa (करण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन); relative pronoun

• śeṣāṇām: of the remaining (ones)
• śeṣāṇām: Ṣaṣṭhī-sambandha (षष्ठीसम्बन्ध)
• Type: Noun
• Root: śeṣa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Genitive (6th/षष्ठी), Plural (बहुवचन)

• kariṣyāmi: I will do
• kariṣyāmi: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √kṛ (कृ धातु)
• Form: Simple Future (लृट्), 1st person (उत्तमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada

• iha: here
• iha: Deśa (देश)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: iha (अव्यय)
• Form: Indeclinable adverb (देशवाचक-अव्यय)

• nāśanam: destruction
• nāśanam: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: nāśana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular (एकवचन)

Speaker

Unspecified (defaulting to Varāha–Pṛthivī framework: Varāha narrating a dialogue scene)

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Narrative
• Vaishnavism
• Sanskrit Philology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a common Purāṇic narrative motif where moral failure (here, greed) is dramatized through dialogue and consequential action, illustrating ethical instruction via story rather than legal prescription.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific geographic location is named in this verse fragment; it is framed as an immediate narrative setting (“iha”, ‘here’) without toponymic identification.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse foregrounds the dangers of greed (lubdha) and the instrumentalization of destructive power (jvālā) against others, functioning as a cautionary ethical example within the narrative.