Varaha Purana 45.3: Adhyaya 45, Shloka 3
Ritual Procedure for Worship of Rāma and Lakṣmaṇa in the Month of Jyeṣṭha
Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-uddhāra and Viṣṇu’s cosmic iconography (aṅga-nyāsa style mapping)
उरः संवत्सरायेति कण्ठं संवर्त्तकाय च । सर्वास्त्रधारिणे बाहू स्वनाम्ना अब्जरथाङ्गकौ ॥ ४५.३ ॥
uraḥ saṃvatsarāyeti kaṇṭhaṃ saṃvarttakāya ca | sarvāstradhāriṇe bāhū svanāmnā ’bjarathāṅgakau || 45.3 ||
uraH saMvatsarAyeti kaNThaM saMvarttakAya cha | sarvAstradhAriNe bAhU svanAmnA.abjarathA~Ngakau || 45.3 ||
“(Él asigna) el pecho a Saṃvatsara y la garganta a Saṃvarttaka; y los dos brazos—portadores de todas las armas—son llamados por sus propios nombres: ‘Abjaratha’ y ‘Aṅgaka’.”
Sandhi Notes
- संवत्सरायेति = संवत्सराय + इति
- स्वनāmnā ’bjarathāṅgakau = स्वनाम्ना + अब्जरथाङ्गकौ (’ = avagraha)
Varāha
Absorbed; integrating cosmology with iconography
How are time-powers and divine weapon-bearing aspects to be installed/recognized in the deity’s limbs during worship?
Kāla (time) and saṃhāra (reabsorption) are divine modalities; devotion matures when it recognizes these within the Lord’s form.
While worshipping, contemplate the year-cycle in the chest (life-sustaining order) and dissolution-force in the throat (transformative power), seeking steadiness and fearlessness.
The Lord’s body is a time-cosmos: chest as Saṃvatsara (year-cycle sustaining life), throat as Saṃvarttaka (dissolution/fire principle), arms as universal protection through all astras.
Body-as-yajña mapping by function: time (saṃvatsara) as sustaining rhythm, saṃvarttaka as transformative/dissolving force, arms as kṣatra/protection enabling dharma.
Non-dual support: time and dissolution are not outside the Lord; they are powers (śakti) within saguna manifestation, aiding contemplation of īśvara as both sustainer and reabsorber.
Continue aṅga-pūjā/nyāsa: assign the chest to Saṃvatsara, the throat to Saṃvarttaka, and worship the two arms (bearers of all weapons) with the names Abjaratha and Aṅgaka.
Aligning worship with cosmic/time deities and the Lord’s protective arms is held to confer completeness and protection; disorder/omission reduces ritual fullness.
Varāha Purāṇa 45.45.1-2: preceding limb-worship instructions; 45.45.3 continues upward mapping
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic literary method of correlating bodily features with cosmic principles (e.g., time-cycles and dissolution), a technique used for systematizing cosmology and iconography in classical Sanskrit traditions.
No geographic location is named in this verse; the content is primarily cosmological and iconographic rather than topographical.
The verse is descriptive rather than prescriptive; its philosophical emphasis is on perceiving ordered correspondences between the cosmos (time/dissolution) and embodied form, supporting a worldview of structured interrelation.
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.
