Varaha Purana 116.15: Adhyaya 116, Shloka 15
An Exposition on the Causes of Happiness and Suffering
धावन्त्यस्याग्रतः पृष्ठे ततो दुःखतरं नु किम् ॥ अश्नन्ति पिशितं केचित्केचिच्छालिसमन्वितम्
dhāvanty asyāgrataḥ pṛṣṭhe tato duḥkhataraṃ nu kim || aśnanti piśitaṃ kecit kecic chāli-samanvitam
Corren delante de él y detrás de él—¿qué puede ser más doloroso que eso? Unos comen carne, y otros comen alimento acompañado de arroz.
Varāha (default, instructional voice)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":true}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"instruction_summary":"Varāha points to painful social contrasts—people chase and are chased, and diets vary (meat vs rice)—as effects of prior karma, urging ethical reflection rather than envy or cruelty.","karmic_consequence":"Understanding karmic causality reduces envy and violence; ignoring it perpetuates harmful conduct that ripens as future suffering and degraded births."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"karma-phala / ethical discernment","core_concept":"Visible disparities in pursuit, fear, and sustenance arise from one’s own past actions (ātma-karman), so one should cultivate dharma rather than judge by externals.","practical_application":"Practice ahiṃsā, moderation in consumption, and compassion toward those in distress; avoid pride in prosperity and contempt for the poor."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Karma","Social Observation"]
Primary Rasa: karuṇa
Secondary Rasa: śānta
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa adhyāya 116 (karma-vaiṣamya observations continuing in adjacent verses)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A didactic tableau of human inequality: some people running ahead and behind a powerful figure (symbolizing pursuit/fear), while nearby groups eat different foods—meat for some, rice-based fare for others—under Varāha’s unseen moral gaze.","item_prompts":["contrasting groups (hunters/meat-eaters vs rice-eaters)","figures running in front and behind (pursuit/fear motif)","a calm divine narrator presence (Varāha implied)","expressions of distress and disparity"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style, flat luminous colors; depict contrasting social groups in two registers, with an implied divine narrator aura at the top; emphasize expressive eyes and rhythmic composition.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style with gold-leaf haloed divine presence (Varāha implied or as narrator), richly ornamented borders; foreground two food groups (meat platter vs rice bowl) with strong contrast.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore painting style, delicate linework; a moralizing scene with subtle gestures—some fleeing/pursuing, others eating; soft background architecture suggesting a town.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari miniature style, hillside-town vignette; small figures in narrative clusters showing pursuit and differing meals; cool palette with fine detailing."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"grave, reflective","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"medium-slow","voice_tone":"didactic, compassionate, slightly admonitory"}
FAQs
The verse uses everyday markers—movement, attendants, and diet—to depict social differentiation, a frequent Purāṇic technique for moral instruction.
No location is specified; the passage is descriptive of social scenes rather than sacred geography.
To contemplate suffering intensified by comparison: witnessing others’ activity and consumption while oneself is constrained by impending death.
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.