Varaha Purana 68.1: Adhyaya 68, Shloka 1

Dharma Across the Four Yugas, the Disruption of Social Conduct, and Ritual Purification from Varṇa-Mixing Transgressions

Devanagari script

भद्राश्व उवाच । योऽसौ परापरो देवो विष्णुः सर्वगतो मुने । चतुर्युगे त्वसौ कीदृग् विज्ञेयः परमेश्वरः ॥ ६८.१ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 68.1

Transliteration

bhadrāśva uvāca | yo'sau parāparo devo viṣṇuḥ sarvagato mune | caturyuge tv asau kīdṛg vijñeyaḥ parameśvaraḥ || 68.1 ||

Translation

Bhadrāśva sprach: „O Weiser, wie ist jener Viṣṇu—zugleich transzendent und immanent, allgegenwärtig—im Kreislauf der vier Yugas als der höchste Herr zu erkennen?“

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Word by Word

• bhadrāśvaḥ: Bhadrāśva
• bhadrāśvaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhadrāśva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (speaker name)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriya (क्रिया/main verb)
• Type: Verb
• Root: vac (धातु)
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद

• yaḥ: who
• yaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; सम्बन्धबोधक सर्वनाम (relative pronoun)

• asau: that (one)
• asau: Karta (कर्ता/subject, in apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; संकेतवाचक सर्वनाम (demonstrative)

• parāparaḥ: both transcendent and immanent
• parāparaḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण/adjectival to devaḥ/viṣṇuḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: para + apara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; इतरेतर-द्वन्द्वः (paraḥ ca aparaḥ ca) used adjectivally

• devaḥ: god
• devaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject, apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• viṣṇuḥ: Viṣṇu
• viṣṇuḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject, apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: viṣṇu (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• sarva-gataḥ: all-pervading
• sarva-gataḥ: Visheshana (विशेषण/adjectival to viṣṇuḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: sarva + gata (गम्-धातु से क्त/कृदन्त; प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past participle) ‘gata’; उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (sarvatra gataḥ)

• mune: O sage
• mune: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: muni (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• catur-yuge: in the four yugas
• catur-yuge: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: catur + yuga (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (caturṇāṃ yugānāṃ samāhāra/within the four yugas)

• tu: indeed / but
• tu: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/discourse particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय, अवधान/विरोधार्थक निपात (particle: but/indeed)

• asau: that (Lord)
• asau: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: adas (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; संकेतवाचक सर्वनाम

• kīdṛk: of what kind
• kīdṛk: Visheshana (विशेषण/predicative adjective)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kīdṛś (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक विशेषण (interrogative adjective)

• vijñeyaḥ: to be known / should be understood
• vijñeyaḥ: Vidheyavisheshana (विधेय-विशेषण/predicate)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: vi + jñā (धातु) + ya (कृदन्त)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; विधेय-भावे तव्यत्/यत्-अर्थक ‘-ya’ (gerundive: to be known)

• parameśvaraḥ: the Supreme Lord
• parameśvaraḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject, apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parama + īśvara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन; कर्मधारयः (paramaḥ īśvaraḥ)

Speaker

Bhadrāśva

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Studies
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Indic Cosmology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It frames a core Purāṇic inquiry: how a single, all-pervading divine principle is described across changing cosmic eras (yugas), reflecting the text’s engagement with time-cycles and theological language.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic location is named in this verse; it is a doctrinal question about Viṣṇu’s knowability across the four yugas.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse does not issue a direct ethical injunction; its philosophical instruction is epistemic—how one should understand (vijñeyaḥ) the Supreme in relation to cosmic time.