Varaha Purana 13.11: Adhyaya 13, Shloka 11
The Genealogy of the Pitṛs and the Determination of Śrāddha Times
मार्कण्डेयः । सर्वेषामेव देवानामाद्यो नारायणो गुरुः । तस्माद् ब्रह्मा समुत्पन्नः सोऽपि सप्तासृज्जन्मुनीन् ॥ १३.११ ॥
mārkaṇḍeyaḥ | sarveṣām eva devānām ādyō nārāyaṇo guruḥ | tasmād brahmā samutpannaḥ so 'pi saptāsṛj janmunīn || 13.11 ||
Mārkaṇḍeya said: “For all the gods, Nārāyaṇa is the primordial one and the teacher. From him Brahmā arose; and he, in turn, created seven sages from his own being.”
Mārkaṇḍeya
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic cosmogonic model in which a supreme principle (here, Nārāyaṇa) precedes Brahmā, and the early creation includes the archetypal group of seven sages (saptaṛṣi), a motif widely attested across Purāṇic and Itihāsa literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; it is primarily cosmological and genealogical in focus.
Rather than a direct ethical injunction, the verse conveys a philosophical hierarchy of knowledge and origin—portraying Nārāyaṇa as the primordial teacher and framing the sages as foundational transmitters of cultural and intellectual tradition.
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