Varaha Purana 9.5: Adhyaya 9, Shloka 5
The Sequence of Creation, the Emergence of the Praṇava, and the Fish Incarnation’s Retrieval of the Vedas
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmological Narratives (Sṛṣṭi-krama)
ॐ इत्येकाक्षरीभूता ससर्जेमां महीं तदा । भूः ससर्ज भुवं सोऽपि स्वः ससर्ज ततो महः ॥ ९.५ ॥
om ity ekākṣarībhūtā sasarjemāṃ mahīṃ tadā | bhūḥ sasarja bhuvaṃ so 'pi svaḥ sasarja tato mahaḥ || 9.5 ||
omityekAkSharIbhUtA sasarjemAM mahIM tadA | bhUH sasarja bhuvaM so.api svaH sasarja tato mahaH || 9.5 ||
Dann, zum einsilbigen Laut „Om“ geworden, erschuf sie diese Erde. Sie erschuf „Bhūḥ“ und auch „Bhuvaḥ“; danach erschuf sie „Svaḥ“ und sodann „Mahaḥ“.
Sandhi Notes
- इत्येकाक्षरीभूता = इति एकाक्षरीभूता
- ससर्जेमाम् = ससर्ज इमाम्
- सोऽपि = सः अपि
Varāha
Sound (Oṃ) is causal; the worlds are structured as graded expansions of sacred utterance.
Integrate Oṃ and vyāhṛti recitation with contemplation: treat mantra as a method to align microcosm (mind-breath) with macrocosm (lokas).
Praṇava (Oṃ) is presented as the single-syllable causal potency from which the earth and the vyāhṛti-lokas unfold (Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Mahaḥ), aligning creation with mantra-structure and Vedic cosmography.
Vyāhṛtis are yajña-speech pillars: Bhūḥ/Bhuvaḥ/Svaḥ/Mahaḥ as ritual utterances that ‘build’ the worlds; Oṃ as the seed-sound preceding and empowering the sacrificial cosmos.
Oṃ as brahman-sign (praṇava) generating nāma-rūpa; echoes Māṇḍūkya’s framing of Oṃ as totality, with worlds as graded manifestations within consciousness.
Varāha Purāṇa 9.9.6 (threading of the order); Varāha Purāṇa 9.9.7 (praṇava-born universe and void)
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic cosmogonic formula linking creation to the praṇava (“Om”) and enumerating the early strata of the traditional world-system (Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Mahaḥ), a scheme also widely attested in Vedic and post-Vedic literature.
No specific terrestrial location is named here; the verse uses cosmological ‘world’ designations (Bhūḥ, Bhuvaḥ, Svaḥ, Mahaḥ) rather than a place identifiable on historical geography.
The verse primarily conveys a philosophical instruction rather than a direct moral rule: it frames the cosmos as originating in ordered stages and associates creative power with disciplined, meaningful speech (the single-syllable “Om”).
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