Varaha Purana 59.2: Adhyaya 59, Shloka 2

The Obstacle-Removing Vow

Procedure for Worship of Vināyaka

Pūrva Bhāga · Vrata-vidhi (Ritual Observances and Dharma Instructions)

Devanagari script

चतुर्थ्यां फाल्गुने मासि ग्रहीतव्यं व्रतं त्विदम् । नक्ताहारेण राजेन्द्र तिलान्नं पारणं स्मृतम् । तदेवाग्नौ तु होतव्यं ब्राह्मणाय च तद्भवेत् ॥ ५९.२ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 59.2

Transliteration

caturthyāṃ phālgune māsi grahītavyaṃ vrataṃ tvidam | naktāhāreṇa rājendra tilānnaṃ pāraṇaṃ smṛtam | tadevāgnau tu hotavyaṃ brāhmaṇāya ca tad bhavet || 59.2 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

„Am Caturthī (vierten Mondtag) im Monat Phālguna ist dieses Gelübde zu übernehmen. O König, bei der Regel, nur nachts zu essen, gilt als abschließende Mahlzeit (pāraṇa) Sesamreis. Eben diese Gabe soll in das Opferfeuer (homa) dargebracht und auch einem Brāhmaṇa gegeben werden.“

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Word by Word

• caturthyām: on the fourth (tithi)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: caturthī (प्रातिपदिक)

• phālgune: in (the month of) Phālguna
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: phālguna (प्रातिपदिक)

• māsi: in the month
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: māsa (प्रातिपदिक)

• grahītavyam: should be undertaken
• Type: Verb
• Form: Gerundive/Future passive participle (तव्यत्), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); impersonal obligation
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: grahītavya (प्रातिपदिक; from √grah)

• vratam: vow/observance
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Kartā (कर्ता)
• Root: vrata (प्रातिपदिक)

• tu: indeed/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Particle (विरोध/अवधारणार्थक अव्यय)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: tu (अव्यय)

• idam: this
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: idam (प्रातिपदिक)

• naktāhāreṇa: with night-only eating
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular (एकवचन); Tatpuruṣa: ‘night-meal/one-meal-at-night regimen’
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)
• Root: nakta (प्रातिपदिक) + āhāra (प्रातिपदिक)

• rājendra: O best of kings
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular (एकवचन); Karmadhāraya: ‘king who is like Indra / best of kings’
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: rājan (प्रातिपदिक) + indra (प्रातिपदिक)

• tilānnam: sesame-rice/food with sesame
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); Tatpuruṣa: ‘sesame-food’
• Role: Kartā (कर्ता)
• Root: tila (प्रातिपदिक) + anna (प्रातिपदिक)

• pāraṇam: breaking (of the fast)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Kartā (कर्ता)
• Root: pāraṇa (प्रातिपदिक)

• smṛtam: is declared/remembered (as)
• Type: Verb
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); used predicatively ‘is said/considered’
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: smṛta (प्रातिपदिक; from √smṛ)

• tat: that
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)

• eva: indeed/only
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Emphatic particle (अवधारणार्थक अव्यय)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: eva (अव्यय)

• agnau: in the fire
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Locative (7th/सप्तमी), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: agni (प्रातिपदिक)

• tu: and/but
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Particle (विरोध/अवधारणार्थक अव्यय)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: tu (अव्यय)

• hotavyam: should be offered (as oblation)
• Type: Verb
• Form: Gerundive/Future passive participle (तव्यत्), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन); ‘should be offered’
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: hotavya (प्रातिपदिक; from √hu)

• brāhmaṇāya: to a brāhmaṇa
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine (पुंलिङ्ग), Dative (4th/चतुर्थी), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Root: brāhmaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Conjunction (समुच्चयबोधक अव्यय)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/समुच्चय)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• tat: that (act/result)
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Pronoun (सर्वनाम), Neuter (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular (एकवचन)
• Role: Kartā (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)

• bhavet: should be / would be
• Type: Verb
• Form: Optative (विधिलिङ्), 3rd person (प्रथमपुरुष), Singular (एकवचन), Parasmaipada (परस्मैपद)
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: bhū (धा॒तु)

Sandhi Notes

• tvidam = tu + idam
• tadevāgnau = tat + eva + agnau (t + e→de; a+ a→ā)

Speaker and setting

Shanta rasa

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Curious

What she asks

How is the obstacle-removing observance to be undertaken—its tithi, dietary rule, pāraṇa, and the required homa and brāhmaṇa-gift?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Karma-yoga (ritual discipline)

Subjects

EthicsRitual PracticeDharma

Core idea

Ritual success is stabilized by restraint (niyama), correct closure (pāraṇa), and transference of merit through homa and dāna.

In practice

Observe regulated diet (naktāhāra), perform proper pāraṇa, and complete the act with homa plus brāhmaṇa-satkara (gift) to seal the rite.

Dharma

Vrata

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Dharma
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Ritual Studies

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It documents a standardized Purāṇic vrata protocol—date specification (caturthī in Phālguna), dietary discipline (naktāhāra), and the closing rite (pāraṇa)—reflecting how late-classical Sanskrit texts systematized household and royal ritual practice.

Which geographic location is identified?

No explicit geographic toponym appears in this verse; it is a calendrical and procedural instruction rather than a site-specific passage.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse emphasizes disciplined observance and socially oriented giving: completing a vow with restraint (regulated eating) and directing offerings through fire-ritual and charitable gifting to a brāhmaṇa.