Opening the text

Sitakṛṣṇā-dvividhatā, Samudra-saptatva, Saṃvatsara-dvādaśatva ca
Cosmology & Temporal-Ecology (Symbolic Exegesis)
Im lehrhaften Rahmen von Varāha und Pṛthivī bringt dieses Adhyāya einen Neben-Dialog, in dem Bhadrāśva den Weisen Agastya nach symbolischer Kosmologie fragt: warum zwei Gestalten namens Sitakṛṣṇā als verschiedene Frauen erscheinen, wie ein einziges Wesen siebenfach wird und wie ein anderes zwölffach wird, obwohl es „zweileibig“ und „sechsköpfig“ ist. Agastya deutet dies als Entsprechungen: Sitakṛṣṇā bezeichnet gepaarte Prinzipien (Wahrheit/Unwahrheit) und wird auch mit der Nacht identifiziert; das „Eine, das zu Sieben wird“ entspricht dem Ozean in siebenfacher Anordnung; und die „Zwölf, zweileibig, sechsköpfig“ ist der saṃvatsara (das Jahr), gegliedert durch zwei Bewegungen bzw. Wege und durch sechs Jahreszeiten als seine „Gesichter“. Der Text verknüpft Tag–Nacht und Sonne–Mond mit Entstehen und Ordnung der Welt und schließt, dass die Verwirklichung Viṣṇus die Hinwendung zu vedischen Riten erfordert—als implizite Ethik, das kosmisch-irdische Gleichgewicht durch geregelte Zeit und Praxis zu bewahren.
Verse 1
भद्राश्व उवाच । भगवन् सितकृष्णे द्वे भिन्ने जगति केशवान् । स्त्रियौ बभूवतुः के द्वे सितकृष्णा च का शुभा ॥ ६७.१ ॥
Bhadrāśva sprach: „O Erhabener, in der Welt gibt es zwei — Sītā und Kṛṣṇā — voneinander verschieden und doch mit Keśava verbunden. Wer sind diese beiden Frauen? Und wer ist die glückverheißende, die Sītā-Kṛṣṇā genannt wird?“
Verse 2
कश्चासौ पुरुषो ब्रह्मन् य एकः सप्तधा भवेत् । कोऽसौ द्वादशधा विप्र द्विदेहः षट्शिराः शुभः ॥ ६७.२ ॥
„Wer, o Brahmane, ist jene Person, die, obgleich eine, siebenfach wird? Und wer, o gelehrter Vipra, ist dasselbe Prinzip, das zwölffach wird — zweileibig, sechsköpfig, glückverheißend?“
Verse 3
दाम्पत्यं च द्विजश्रेष्ठ कृतसूर्योदयादनम् । कस्मादेतज्जगदिदं विततं द्विजसत्तम ॥ ६७.३ ॥
„Und auch hinsichtlich des ehelichen Lebens, o Bester der Zweimalgeborenen — zusammen mit dem beim Sonnenaufgang vollzogenen Ritus — warum ist diese Welt so ausgebreitet und entfaltet, o Vornehmster der Zweimalgeborenen?“
Verse 4
अगस्त्य उवाच । सितकृष्णे स्त्रियौ ये ते ते भगिन्यौ प्रकीर्तिते । सत्यासत्ये द्विवर्णा च नारी रात्रिरुदाहृता ॥ ६७.४ ॥
Agastya sprach: „Jene zwei Frauen — die weiße und die schwarze — werden als Schwestern verkündet. Als Wahrheit und Unwahrheit und als zweifarbig wird die Frau ‘Nacht’ so beschrieben.“
Verse 5
यः पुमान् सप्तधा जात एको भूत्वा नरेश्वर । स समुद्रस्तु विज्ञेयः सप्तधैकॊ व्यवस्थितः ॥ ६७.५ ॥
O Herr der Menschen: Jener eine Purusha, der siebenfach geboren wurde und doch einer blieb, ist als der Ozean zu erkennen—einer, doch in siebenfacher Weise gegründet.
Verse 6
योऽसौ द्वादशधा राजन् द्विदेहः षट्शिराः प्रभुः । संवत्सरः स विज्ञेयः शरीरे द्वे गती स्मृते । ऋतवः षट् च वक्त्राणि एष संवत्सरः स्मृतः ॥ ६७.६ ॥
O König, jenes souveräne Prinzip, das zwölffach ist, zwei Leiber und sechs Häupter hat, ist als das „Jahr“ (saṃvatsara) zu erkennen. In seinem Leib werden zwei Bahnen erinnert; und die sechs Jahreszeiten gelten als seine sechs Gesichter—so ist das Jahr beschrieben.
Verse 7
दाम्पत्यं तदहोरात्रं सूर्याचन्द्रमसौ ततः । ततो जगत्समुत्तस्थौ देवस्यास्य नृपोत्तम ॥ ६७.७ ॥
Daraus entstand die eheliche Vereinigung; daraus Tag und Nacht; dann Sonne und Mond. Danach trat die Welt hervor—o bester der Könige—und alles gehört dieser Gottheit.
Verse 8
स विष्णुः परमो देवो विज्ञेयो नृपसत्तम । न च वेदक्रियाहीनः पश्यते परमेश्वरम् ॥ ६७.८ ॥
Jener Viṣṇu ist als die höchste göttliche Wirklichkeit zu erkennen, o bester der Könige; und wer der vedischen Riten entbehrt, erblickt den höchsten Herrn nicht.
Verse 9
॥ इति वराहपुराणे भगवच्छास्त्रे सप्तषष्ठितमोऽध्यायः ॥ ६७ ॥
So endet das siebenundsechzigste Kapitel im Varāha-Purāṇa, der heiligen Schrift über den seligen Herrn.
Verse 10
|| So endet im Varaha-Purana, in der Śāstra des Bhagavān, das siebenundsechzigste Kapitel ||
Within the overarching Varāha–Pṛthivī instructional setting, the narrative briefly shifts into a subsidiary exchange: Bhadrāśva approaches Agastya with interpretive questions about puzzling cosmological images and personifications.
Bhadrāśva asks three linked riddles of symbolic cosmology: (1) why two figures named Sita–Kṛṣṇā appear as distinct women, (2) how a single entity becomes sevenfold, and (3) how another becomes twelvefold while being described as ‘two-bodied’ and ‘six-headed.’ Agastya answers by mapping each image to a structured correspondence: Sita–Kṛṣṇā as paired principles (satya/asatya) and as rātri (night); the ‘one becoming seven’ as the ocean conceived in a sevenfold schema; and the ‘twelvefold, two-bodied, six-headed’ as saṃvatsara (the year) organized by dual courses/motions and six seasons as its ‘faces.’
The explanation culminates in a time-cosmology synthesis: ahorātra (day–night) and the sūrya–candramas (sun–moon) are presented as ordering forces through which the world’s emergence and stability are intelligible. The ethical-theological resolution is that true realization of the supreme principle (Viṣṇu) is inseparable from veda-kriyā—disciplined Vedic ritual action aligned to temporal order.
No explicit toponyms are stated in this adhyāya. The chapter operates in a macro-cosmological register, referencing ecological-cosmic domains such as samudra (ocean) and temporal/seasonal cycles (ṛtavaḥ) rather than named pilgrimage sites or river systems.
The text frames cosmic order as intelligible through disciplined practice: it states that perceiving the supreme principle (identified with Viṣṇu) is not accessible to one who is deficient in Vedic rites (veda-kriyā). In a neutral scholarly reading, this functions as a norm of maintaining order—personal and societal—by aligning conduct with established ritual-temporal frameworks.
The chapter emphasizes ahorātra (day–night) and the saṃvatsara (year) structured as dvādaśadhā (twelvefold). It explicitly names the six seasons (ṛtavaḥ ṣaṭ) as integral to the year’s structure. No specific lunar tithis are mentioned in this passage.
Environmental balance is implied through the ordering of nature by time: the ocean is conceptualized as sevenfold (a way of classifying ecological space), while the year is defined through cyclical divisions and seasons. By linking world-emergence and stability to regulated cycles (sun–moon, day–night, seasons), the text can be read as presenting an early model of terrestrial stewardship grounded in respecting and maintaining temporal-ecological rhythms.
The chapter names Bhadrāśva (a royal interlocutor) and Agastya (a prominent sage figure) as the immediate participants in the explanatory exchange. No extended dynastic genealogy is provided within the cited verses.
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.