Varaha Purana 95.38: Adhyaya 95, Shloka 38

The Slaying of the Daitya Ruru, the Hymn to Cāmuṇḍā/Kālarātri, and the Doctrine of the Threefold Power

Uttara Bhāga · Devī-stuti and Bhūta/Grāha Narratives (Possession Motifs)

Devanagari script

गृहे क्षेत्रे तडागेषु वाप्युद्यानेषु चैव हि । अन्यचित्ता रुदन्त्यो याः स्त्रियस्तिष्ठन्ति नित्यशः । तासां शरीराण्याविश्य काश्चित्तृप्तिमवाप्स्यथ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 95.38

Transliteration

gṛhe kṣetre taḍāgeṣu vāpyudyāneṣu caiva hi | anyacittā rudantyo yāḥ striyas tiṣṭhanti nityaśaḥ | tāsāṃ śarīrāṇy āviśya kāścit tṛptim avāpsyatha ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

Wahrlich, in Häusern, auf Feldern, an Teichen, Brunnen und in Gärten stehen jene Frauen, die stets zerstreuten Sinnes und weinend verweilen; indem manche Wesen in ihre Körper eingehen, werden sie Befriedigung erlangen.

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Word by Word

• gṛhe: in a house
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napumsakaliṅga (neuter), Saptamī vibhakti (Locative/7th), Ekavacana (singular)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Root: gṛha (प्रातिपदिक)

• kṣetre: in a field
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napumsakaliṅga (neuter), Saptamī vibhakti (Locative/7th), Ekavacana (singular)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Root: kṣetra (प्रातिपदिक)

• taḍāgeṣu: in ponds
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṃliṅga (masculine), Saptamī vibhakti (Locative/7th), Bahuvacana (plural)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Root: taḍāga (प्रातिपदik)

• vāpī-udyāneṣu: in tanks/wells and in gardens
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napumsakaliṅga (neuter, dvandva treated as neuter), Saptamī vibhakti (Locative/7th), Bahuvacana (plural); itaretara-dvandva: in wells/tanks and gardens
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Root: vāpī (प्रातिपदिक) + udyāna (प्रातिपदिक)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; samuccaya (conjunction)
• Role: Samuccaya (समुच्चय/Connector)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• eva: indeed; just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; avadhāraṇa-nipāta (emphatic particle)
• Role: Nipāta (निपात/Emphasis)
• Root: eva (अव्यय)

• hi: indeed; for
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; hetu/avadhāraṇa-nipāta (particle)
• Role: Nipāta (निपात/Particle)
• Root: hi (अव्यय)

• anya-cittāḥ: distracted; with minds elsewhere
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural); karmadhāraya: whose mind is elsewhere
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier of striyaḥ)
• Root: anya (प्रातिपदिक) + citta (प्रातिपदिक)

• rudantyaḥ: crying; weeping
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Kṛdanta: Śatṛ-pratyaya present active participle (शतृ), Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण/Qualifier of striyaḥ)
• Root: rud (धातु)

• yāḥ: who; those who
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural); relative pronoun
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject of tiṣṭhanti)
• Root: yad (प्रातिपदिक)

• striyaḥ: women
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Root: strī (प्रातिपदिक)

• tiṣṭhanti: stand; remain
• Type: Verb
• Form: Laṭ (present/लट्), Prathama puruṣa (3rd person), Bahuvacana (plural), parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verbal action)
• Root: sthā (धातु)

• nityaśaḥ: always; constantly
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; kāla-avyaya (adverb of time/frequency)
• Role: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial)
• Root: nityaśas (अव्यय)

• tāsām: of those (women)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Ṣaṣṭhī vibhakti (Genitive/6th), Bahuvacana (plural)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive relation)
• Root: tad (प्रातिपदिक)

• śarīrāṇi: bodies
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napumsakaliṅga (neuter), Dvitīyā vibhakti (Accusative/2nd), Bahuvacana (plural)
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object of āviśya)
• Root: śarīra (प्रातिपदिक)

• āviśya: having entered
• Type: Verb
• Form: Kṛdanta: absolutive/gerund (ktvā-lyap/क्त्वा-ल्यप्), indeclinable; pūrvakāla-kriyā (prior action)
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verbal action)
• Root: ā-viś (धातु)

• kāścit: some (female beings)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Prathamā vibhakti (Nominative/1st), Bahuvacana (plural); indefinite pronoun (some)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject of avāpsyatha)
• Root: kim (प्रातिपदिक)

• tṛptim: satisfaction; satiation
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga (feminine), Dvitīyā vibhakti (Accusative/2nd), Ekavacana (singular)
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Root: tṛpti (प्रातिपदिक)

• avāpsyatha: you (pl.) will obtain
• Type: Verb
• Form: Luṭ (simple future/लुट्), Madhyama puruṣa (2nd person), Bahuvacana (plural), parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया/Verbal action)
• Root: ava-āp (धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• vāpyudyāneṣu = vāpī + udyāneṣu (ī + u → y u)
• śarīrāṇy āviśya = śarīrāṇi + āviśya (i + ā → yā)

Speaker and setting

Bhayanaka and Karuna rasa

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Psychology/adhidaivika causality

Subjects

Ritual PracticePsychological States in NarrativeFolk Belief (Possession motifs)

Core idea

Manas-vikṣepa (distracted mind) and śoka (weeping) are portrayed as openings for adhidaivika/abhicārika influences; suffering becomes a ‘seat’ (āśraya) for intrusive forces seeking tṛpti.

In practice

Cultivate steadiness (dhairya), śauca, and protective recitations/offerings in vulnerable spaces (home, water-sites); address grief and mental agitation as part of ritual hygiene.

Cross references

Tags

• Purāṇic Literature
• Śākta Motifs
• Cultural Anthropology (textual)
• Sanskrit Lexicography

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It documents how Sanskrit Purāṇic literature encodes social-ritual explanations for distress and abnormal behavior through the idiom of āveśa (entry/possession).

Which geographic location is identified?

No named location appears; instead, common landscape units (house, field, pond, well, garden) are listed as settings.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Implicitly, it stresses safeguarding mental and bodily wellbeing—especially for those in vulnerable emotional states—within the text’s ritual worldview.