Varaha Purana 79.9: Adhyaya 79, Shloka 9

Description of the Inner Basins (Droṇīs): Śrīsaras, Śrīvana, Bilva Forest, and Tāla Grove

Devanagari script

शतयोजनविस्तीर्णं द्वियोजनशतायतम् । अर्द्धक्रोशोच्छशिखरैर्महावृक्षैः समन्ततः । शाखासहस्रकलितैर्महास्कन्धैः समाकुलम् ॥ ७९.९ ॥

Sanskrit recitationVaraha Purana 79.9

Transliteration

śatayojanavistīrṇaṃ dviyojanaśatāyatam | arddhakrośocchaśikharair mahāvṛkṣaiḥ samantataḥ | śākhāsahasrakalitair mahāskandhaiḥ samākulam || 79.9 ||

Translation

Abarcaba cien yojanas de anchura y se extendía doscientas yojanas de longitud; por todas partes estaba rodeado de grandes árboles cuyas copas se alzaban hasta media krośa, y se hallaba densamente poblado de enormes troncos con miles de ramas.

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Word by Word

• śata-yojana-vistīrṇam: extended for a hundred yojanas
• śata-yojana-vistīrṇam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śata (शत, प्रातिपदिक) + yojana (योजन, प्रातिपदिक) + vistīrṇa (विस्तीर्ण, कृदन्त from √stṛ (स्तृ) with vi-; क्त)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; PPP (क्त) 'spread/extended'; samāsa: śata-yojana = 'a hundred yojanas' (षष्ठी/द्विगु-भावार्थ), qualifying extent

• dvi-yojana-śata-āyatam: two hundred yojanas long
• dvi-yojana-śata-āyatam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: dvi (द्वि, संख्या) + yojana (योजन) + śata (शत) + āyata (आयत, प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त from √yam (यम्) with ā-; क्त)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; āyata = 'long/extended'; compound expresses measure: 'two-yojana hundreds' = 200 yojanas long

• arddha-krośa-uccha-śikharaiḥ: with peaks half a krośa high
• arddha-krośa-uccha-śikharaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण) / Hetu (हेतु) as instrumental of description
• Type: Noun
• Root: arddha (अर्द्ध) + krośa (क्रोश) + uccha (उच्छ, प्रातिपदिक 'high') + śikhara (शिखर, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Tṛtīyā (तृतीया), Bahuvacana; samāsa: arddha-krośa-uccha = 'half-krośa-high' (मात्रा-निर्देश), śikhara = 'peaks/summits'

• mahā-vṛkṣaiḥ: with great trees
• mahā-vṛkṣaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण) / Sahacarya (सहचर्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (महा, प्रातिपदिक) + vṛkṣa (वृक्ष, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā, Bahuvacana; karmadhāraya: 'great trees'

• samantataḥ: on all sides
• samantataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: samantataḥ (समन्ततः)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (देशवाचक)

• śākhā-sahasra-kalitaiḥ: with thousands of branches
• śākhā-sahasra-kalitaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण) / Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śākhā (शाखा, प्रातिपदिक) + sahasra (सहस्र, प्रातिपदिक) + kalita (कलित, कृदन्त from √kal/√kḷp? here 'adorned/filled', क्त)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā, Bahuvacana; PPP (क्त) 'furnished with'; samāsa: śākhā-sahasra = 'thousands of branches' (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष sense)

• mahā-skandhaiḥ: with huge trunks
• mahā-skandhaiḥ: Karaṇa (करण) / Sahacarya (सहचर्य)
• Type: Noun
• Root: mahā (महा) + skandha (स्कन्ध, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Tṛtīyā, Bahuvacana; karmadhāraya: 'great trunks'

• samākulam: dense / crowded
• samākulam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: samākula (समाकुल, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana

Speaker

Varāha

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Ancient Geography
• Ecological Imagery

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a Purāṇic style of describing large-scale landscapes using traditional units (yojana, krośa), offering evidence for how premodern Sanskrit texts conceptualized geography and environmental magnitude.

Which geographic location is identified?

This verse, by itself, does not name a specific place; it describes an extensive forested region. A precise identification requires the surrounding verses of Adhyāya 79 that may supply a toponym or pilgrimage context.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Rather than issuing a direct injunction, the verse foregrounds the scale and density of a forest ecosystem, which can be cataloged as ecological imagery supporting a broader Purāṇic valuation of landscapes as culturally significant and worthy of preservation.