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Varaha Purana 2.24: Adhyaya 2, Shloka 24

Cosmogony and the Ninefold Creation: Rudra’s Origin and the Prelude to the Sāvitrī-Veda Narrative

आपो नाराः इति प्रोक्ताः आपो वै नरसूनवः । अयनं तस्य ताः पूर्वं तेन नारायणः स्मृतः ॥ २.२४ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 2.24

āpo nārā iti proktā āpo vai narasūnavaḥ | ayānaṃ tasya tāḥ pūrvaṃ tena nārāyaṇaḥ smṛtaḥ || 2.24 ||

«Las aguas son llamadas ‘nārā’; en verdad, se dice que las aguas son descendencia de Nara. Antaño fueron su ‘morada’ (ayana); por eso se le recuerda como Nārāyaṇa».

āpaḥwaters
āpaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) (of implied ‘are called’)
TypeNoun
Rootap (प्रातिपदिक)
FormStrīliṅga (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Prathamā Bahuvacana (irregular plural form)
nārāḥ(as) ‘nārāḥ’
nārāḥ:
Pratipādya (प्रतिपाद्य) / Predicate nominative
TypeNoun
Rootnāra (प्रातिपदिक)
FormPumliṅga, Prathamā Bahuvacana
itithus
iti:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootiti (अव्यय)
FormQuotative particle (उद्धरण-अव्यय)
proktāḥare said / are called
proktāḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया) (passive predicate)
TypeVerb
Rootpra-√vac (प्र+वच् धातु)
FormKṛdanta: past passive participle (क्त, PPP); Pumliṅga, Prathamā Bahuvacana; agrees with āpaḥ (semantic)
āpaḥwaters
āpaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता)
TypeNoun
Rootap (प्रातिपदिक)
FormStrīliṅga, Prathamā Bahuvacana
vaiindeed
vai:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootvai (अव्यय)
FormEmphatic particle (निश्चयार्थक-अव्यय)
nara-sūnavaḥsons of Nara
nara-sūnavaḥ:
Pratipādya (प्रतिपाद्य) / Predicate nominative
TypeNoun
Rootnara (प्रातिपदिक) + sūnu (प्रातिपदिक)
FormTatpuruṣa (षष्ठी) compound; Pumliṅga, Prathamā Bahuvacana
ayanamabode / resting-place
ayanam:
Pratipādya (प्रतिपाद्य)
TypeNoun
Rootayana (प्रातिपदिक)
FormNapumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā Ekavacana (form identical); here Prathamā as predicate noun
tasyaof him
tasya:
Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormPum/Napumsaka, Ṣaṣṭhī Ekavacana; pronoun
tāḥthose (waters)
tāḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) (of implied ‘were’)
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormStrīliṅga, Prathamā Bahuvacana; pronoun referring to āpaḥ
pūrvamformerly / earlier
pūrvam:
Kāla (काल)
TypeIndeclinable
Rootpūrvam (अव्यय/प्रातिपदिक)
FormAdverb of time (कालवाचक-अव्यय)
tenatherefore / by that
tena:
Hetu/Karaṇa (हेतु/करण)
TypeNoun
Roottad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
FormPum/Napumsaka, Tṛtīyā (तृतीया) Ekavacana; instrumental pronoun
nārāyaṇaḥNārāyaṇa
nārāyaṇaḥ:
Karta (कर्ता) (of smṛtaḥ)
TypeNoun
Rootnārāyaṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
FormPumliṅga, Prathamā Ekavacana
smṛtaḥis remembered / is called
smṛtaḥ:
Kriyā (क्रिया) (passive predicate)
TypeVerb
Root√smṛ (स्मृ धातु)
FormKṛdanta: past passive participle (क्त, PPP); Pumliṅga, Prathamā Ekavacana; passive predicate with nārāyaṇaḥ

Varāha (default per dialogue framework; speaker not explicit in excerpt)

C
Classical Literature
P
Purāṇic Cosmology
V
Vaiṣṇavism
S
Sanskrit Etymology

FAQs

It preserves a Purāṇic-style etymology explaining the epithet “Nārāyaṇa” through key Sanskrit terms (āpaḥ, nārā, ayana), reflecting how early medieval Sanskrit traditions linked cosmology, language, and divine nomenclature.

No specific geographic site is named in this verse; it is primarily a cosmological and lexical explanation centered on “waters” (āpaḥ) as a primordial category.

Rather than a direct rule, the verse conveys a philosophical instruction: it frames water as primordial and foundational, supporting a worldview in which natural elements (especially waters) are treated as conceptually central to cosmic order and cultural heritage discourse.

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