Varaha Purana 113.45: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 45
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Mountain Cosmography (Meru, Mandara, Vindhya, etc.)
त्वं मेरुर्मन्दरो विन्ध्यो मलयो दर्दुरो भवान्॥ हिमवान्निषधश्चासि सचक्रोऽसि वरायुधः
tvaṃ merur mandaro vindhyo malayo darduro bhavān || himavān niṣadhaś cāsi sa-cakro 'si varāyudhaḥ
tvaM merurmandaro vindhyo malayo darduro bhavAn || himavAnniShadhashchAsi sachakro.asi varAyudhaH
તમે મેરુ, મંદર, વિંધ્ય, મલય અને દર્દુર છો. તમે હિમવાન અને નિષધ છો; તમે ચક્રધારી, શ્રેષ્ઠ આયુધધારી છો।
Sandhi Notes
- मेरुर्→मेरुः (र् + म), हिमवान्निषधश्चासि→हिमवान् निषधः च असि
- सचक्रोऽसि→सचक्रः असि (ः + अ → ओऽ)
- वरायुधः as predicate in nominative
Pṛthivī
Secure, praising protective power
‘Who upholds the world’s great supports (mountains) and who protects it with sovereign weapons?’
The Lord is both the world’s substance (mountains) and its guardian (cakra-bearing Viṣṇu).
See stability (like mountains) as divine support; in adversity, take refuge in the protector aspect—align actions with dharma under that protection.
Pṛthivī identifies the Lord with major mythic mountains and then explicitly with the weapon-bearing Viṣṇu (‘with discus, excellent weapons’), intensifying the personal theistic address.
Mountains named as the Lord indicate him as the ‘axis/support’ of the cosmos; the mention of cakra and weapons shifts from abstract immanence to the personal protector who can intervene—compatible with Varāha’s role as cosmic rescuer though the boar-form is not described here.
Mountains as stable ‘vedi’ supports of the cosmic yajña; cakra as the ordering principle that ‘cuts’ chaos and preserves ṛta.
Saguna Brahman: the same all-pervading reality is also the personal Viṣṇu with attributes (cakra, āyudha) for protection of dharma.
Varāha Purāṇa 113.45–48 (preceding immanence catalogue)
FAQs
It preserves a catalog of prominent mountain names spanning mythic (Meru, Mandara) and subcontinental (Vindhya, Himavān) geography, valuable for studying how Purāṇas map cultural space.
Vindhya and Himavān correspond to major Indian mountain systems (Vindhya ranges and Himalayas), while Meru/Mandara function primarily as cosmographic or mythic reference points in many Sanskrit traditions.
No direct ethical injunction is stated; the verse primarily asserts immanence—divinity described as present within landscapes—supporting a heritage-oriented reverence for natural features.
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