Varaha Purana - Adhyaya 131
Varaha PuranaAdhyaya 13111 Shlokas

Adhyaya 131: Expiation for Chewing the Tooth-stick (Dantakāṣṭha)

Dantakāṣṭha-carvaṇa-prāyaścitta

Ritual-Manual

Este adhyāya se presenta como un diálogo didáctico entre Varāha y Pṛthivī sobre la pureza ritual y las consecuencias éticas de la conducta diaria. Varāha declara que quien se acerca a él después de masticar un dantakāṣṭha (palillo dental) puede anular las faltas acumuladas, pues el acto es un poderoso purificador. Pṛthivī, firme en el dharma, pregunta cómo una sola acción o falta podría borrar un karma extenso que normalmente trae gran sufrimiento. Varāha responde describiendo la impureza del cuerpo: la boca llena de flema, bilis, sangre, pus y mal olor, y afirma que el dantakāṣṭha destruye la “semilla” de esa impureza, a la vez que sugiere una falla en la pureza de estilo bhāgavata cuando falta la conducta correcta. Luego Pṛthivī pide un remedio para quienes omitieron el palillo pero realizaron ritos; Varāha prescribe un prāyaścitta: dormir al aire libre/bajo el cielo (ākāśa-śayana) durante dos o cinco días, absteniéndose del dantakāṣṭha, y así se elimina la ofensa.

Speakers

VarāhaPṛthivī

Key Concepts

dantakāṣṭha (tooth-stick) as a marker of daily purityprāyaścitta (expiation) for ritual lapseskarma-nāśa (attenuation/erasure of prior deeds) through prescribed conductācāra (normative conduct) and bhāgavata-śuddhi (devotional purity)corporeal impurity as a rationale for ritual regulationākāśa-śayana (sleeping under the open sky) as ascetic penance
Recitation with translationVaraha Purana Adhyaya 131

Shlokas in Adhyaya 131

Verse 1

अथ दन्तकाष्ठाचर्वणप्रायश्चित्तम् ॥ श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ दन्तकाष्ठमचरवित्वा यो हि मामुपसर्पति ॥ पूर्वकालकृतं कर्म तेन चैकेन नश्यति

Ahora, la expiación relativa a no masticar el palillo dental. Śrī Varāha dijo: «Quien se acerque a mí sin haber masticado el palillo dental, por ese solo acto se destruye una acción realizada en tiempos anteriores.»

Verse 2

नारायणवचः श्रुत्वा पृथिवी धर्मसंश्रितः ॥ विष्णुभक्तसुखार्थाय हृषीकेशमुवाच ह

Habiendo oído las palabras de Nārāyaṇa, Pṛthivī—afianzada en el dharma—habló a Hṛṣīkeśa, por el bienestar de los devotos de Viṣṇu.

Verse 3

धरण्युवाच ॥ सर्वकालकृतं कर्म क्लेशेन महताऽनघ ॥ कथमेकापराधेन सर्वमेव प्रणश्यति ॥

Dijo Pṛthivī: «Oh intachable, ¿cómo puede una sola ofensa destruir todo el karma acumulado durante largo tiempo, obtenido con gran esfuerzo?»

Verse 4

श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ शृणु सुन्दरी तत्त्वेन कथ्यमानं मयाऽनघे ॥ येन चैका पराधेन पूर्वकर्म प्रणश्यति ॥

Śrī Varāha dijo: «Escucha, oh hermosa, oh intachable; te expondré según la verdad el principio por el cual una sola ofensa destruye el karma anterior.»

Verse 5

मनुष्यः किल्बिषी भद्रे कफपित्तसमन्वितः ॥ पूयशोणितसम्पूर्णं दुर्गन्धि मुखमस्य तत् ॥

«El ser humano, oh amable señora, está manchado de culpa; dotado de flema y bilis, su boca está llena de pus y sangre, y es de mal olor.»

Verse 6

तत्सर्वबीजं नश्येत दन्तकाष्ठस्य भक्षणात् ॥ शुद्धिर्भागवती चैव आचारेण विवर्जिता ॥

«Al comer el palillo dental (dantakāṣṭha), se destruye por completo esa ‘semilla’ (fundamento); y la pureza devocional al Bhagavān queda excluida cuando falta la recta conducta.»

Verse 7

धरण्युवाच ॥ दन्तकाष्ठमखादित्वा यः कर्माणि करोति ते ॥ प्रायश्चित्तं च मे ब्रूहि येन धर्मो न नश्यति ॥

Dijo Pṛthivī: «Dime también la expiación (prāyaścitta) por la cual el dharma no perece para quien realiza los ritos después de no haber comido el palillo dental.»

Verse 8

श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ एवमेतन्महाभागे यन्मां त्वं परिपृच्छसि ॥ कथयिष्यामि हीदं ते यथा शुध्यन्ति मानवाः ॥

Dijo Śrī Varāha: «Así es, oh noble señora, según me preguntas. Te lo explicaré: cómo los seres humanos llegan a purificarse»

Verse 9

आकाशशयनं कृत्वा दिनानि द्वे च पञ्च च ॥ अभुक्तदन्तकाष्ठाश्च एवं शुध्यन्ति मानवाः ॥

«Habiendo practicado el “dormir al aire libre” durante dos días, o durante cinco días, y absteniéndose de consumir el dantakāṣṭha (palillo dental), así se purifican los seres humanos.»

Verse 10

कुतस्तस्यापराधोऽस्ति एवमेव न संशयः ॥

«¿De dónde podría haber falta en su caso? Es exactamente así; no hay duda.»

Verse 11

एवं ते कथितं भद्रे दन्तकाष्ठस्य भक्षणम् ॥ य एतेन विधानेन प्रायश्चित्तं समाचरेत् ॥

«Así, oh buena señora, te ha sido explicado lo relativo a consumir el dantakāṣṭha (palillo dental). Quien realice el prāyaścitta conforme a este procedimiento…»

Inside Adhyaya 131

How it unfolds

  1. Where it opens

    Varāha and Pṛthivī enter a dharma-śāstra style discussion on daily ācāra and ritual purity, focusing on the ethical weight of seemingly minor bodily practices (especially oral cleanliness).

  2. Central event

    Varāha asserts a striking claim: approaching him after chewing a dantakāṣṭha can nullify previously accumulated wrongdoing; Pṛthivī challenges the karmic logic of how a single act could erase extensive past demerit.

  3. Climax resolution

    Varāha justifies the rule through a corporeal-impurity rationale—depicting the mouth as a locus of phlegm, bile, blood, pus, and foul odor—and frames dantakāṣṭha as destroying the ‘seed’ of impurity; he then provides a corrective prāyaścitta for those who omitted the tooth-stick yet performed rites: ākāśa-śayana for two or five days with abstention related to dantakāṣṭha.

Geographical context

No explicit historical sites, rivers, regions, or sacred groves are mentioned in this adhyāya; the setting is a dialogic, non-localized instructional context between Varāha and Pṛthivī.

Ritual instructions

  • Primary RitualPrāyaścitta for omission/irregularity concerning dantakāṣṭha in the context of ritual performance
  • BenefitRemoval of the specific doṣa connected with improper/omitted dantakāṣṭha discipline and restoration of ritual-moral purity (śuddhi) for continued bhāgavata-oriented conduct.

The narrative frame

  • VarāhaPṛthivī · Didactic, juridical-dharmic, with a probing objection-and-resolution structure (pṛcchā–uttara) centered on karmic proportionality and bodily purity.

The emotional journey

  • Dominant RasaŚānta
  • Emotional ProgressionFrom normative instruction → intellectual doubt about karmic mechanics → vivid confrontation with bodily impurity → reassurance through a clear, bounded expiation that re-stabilizes dharma.

Planning a pilgrimage

  • Visit FeasibilityNot applicable as a site-based pilgrimage chapter; the teaching is portable and practice-oriented rather than tied to a named tīrtha.

Frequently Asked Questions

The chapter frames everyday bodily discipline (especially oral cleanliness and regulated conduct) as ethically consequential: the text instructs that correct practice surrounding dantakāṣṭha and prescribed expiation for lapses functions to restore ritual and moral order, presented through a debate on how a single act can affect accumulated karma.

No lunar phases (tithi), months, or seasonal markers are specified. The only timing given is duration: the prāyaścitta is to be undertaken for either two days or five days (dināni dve ca pañca ca), along with ākāśa-śayana and abstention related to dantakāṣṭha.

Environmental stewardship is implicit rather than explicit: Pṛthivī’s role as the questioning Earth foregrounds a terrestrial-ethical lens in which personal conduct (ācāra) is treated as part of maintaining dharma. The dialogue suggests that disciplined daily practices and corrective penances contribute to social-ritual stability, which the text often associates with the well-being of the Earth as a moral-ecological order.

No royal lineages, sages, or administrative figures are named in this passage. The only figures explicitly present are Varāha (as instructor) and Pṛthivī (as dharma-oriented interlocutor).

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