Varaha Purana 98.23: Adhyaya 98, Shloka 23
Chapter on the Sacred Hill Episode: Satyatapā and the Marvel of Varāha
दृष्टं चक्षुर्निहितं जङ्गमेषु जिह्वा वक्तुं मृगयौ तद्विसृष्टम् ॥ द्रष्टुं चक्षुर्नास्ति जिह्वेह वक्तुं जिह्वायाः स्यात्तत्त्वतोऽस्तीह चक्षुः ॥
dṛṣṭaṁ cakṣur nihitaṁ jaṅgameṣu jihvā vaktuṁ mṛgayau tadvisṛṣṭam || draṣṭuṁ cakṣur nāsti jihveha vaktuṁ jihvāyāḥ syāt tattvato 'stīha cakṣuḥ ||
Bei den sich bewegenden Wesen ist das Sehen im Auge verankert; und die Zunge ist zum Sprechen geformt — so ist es ihr zugewiesen. Die Zunge kann nicht sehen, noch spricht das Auge hier; dem Wesen nach bleibt die Zunge Zunge, und das Auge bleibt wahrlich Auge.
Varāha (default narrator/instructor framework; explicit speaker not marked in fragment)
FAQs
It preserves a didactic common-place found across Sanskrit literature: the differentiation of sensory faculties, used to argue for order in nature and limits of perception.
No location is named; the verse is conceptual and physiological.
It implies disciplined discernment: each faculty has limits, so one should not confuse roles or claim capacities beyond one’s nature.
Ask anything about this verse
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.