Varaha Purana 21.45: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 45

The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share

Pūrva Bhāga · Mythic Conflict Narratives (Rudra–Pūṣan episode)

Devanagari script

सृजन्तमिषुजालानि पूषणं तु महामृधे । दृष्ट्वा रुद्रोऽस्य दन्तांस्तु चकर्ष परवीरहा ॥ २१.४६ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 21.45

Transliteration

sṛjantam iṣujālāni pūṣaṇaṃ tu mahāmṛdhe | dṛṣṭvā rudro 'sya dantāṃs tu cakarṣa paravīrahā || 21.46 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

મહાયુદ્ધમાં પૂષા બાણોના જાળ છોડતો હતો તે જોઈ, પરવીરહા રુદ્રે તેના દાંત ખેંચી કાઢ્યા.

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Word by Word

• sṛjantam: (him) creating / discharging
• Type: Verb
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्ययान्त कृदन्त (Present active participle, शतृ), पुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया-एकवचन (Accusative singular masculine)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: sṛj (धातु)

• iṣu-jālāni: nets/volleys of arrows
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्गे द्वितीया-बहुवचन (Accusative plural neuter); षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (iṣūṇāṃ jālāni)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: iṣu (प्रातिपदिक) + jāla (प्रातिपदिक)

• pūṣaṇam: Pūṣan
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया-एकवचन (Accusative singular masculine)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: pūṣan (प्रातिपदिक)

• tu: but / indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निपात (particle), विरोध/विशेषार्थे (but/indeed)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Root: tu (अव्यय)

• mahā-mṛdhe: in the great battle
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्गे सप्तमी-एकवचन (Locative singular feminine); कर्मधारयः (महती मृध् = great battle)
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण)
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + mṛdh (प्रातिपदिक)

• dṛṣṭvā: having seen
• Type: Verb
• Form: क्त्वान्त अव्यय (Gerund/absolutive), पूर्वकाल (having seen)
• Role: Kriya-visheṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Root: dṛś (धातु)

• rudraḥ: Rudra
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular masculine)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: rudra (प्रातिपदिक)

• asya: of him / his
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे षष्ठी-एकवचन (Genitive singular masculine/neuter)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• dantān: teeth
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे द्वितीया-बहुवचन (Accusative plural masculine)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: danta (प्रातिपदिक)

• tu: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निपात (particle), विशेषार्थे (indeed)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/निपात)
• Root: tu (अव्यय)

• cakarṣa: tore out / dragged away
• Type: Verb
• Form: लिट्-लकार (Perfect), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपदम् (3rd person singular, perfect, parasmaipada)
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Root: kṛṣ (धातु)

• para-vīra-hā: slayer of enemy-heroes
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्गे प्रथमा-एकवचन (Nominative singular masculine); उपपद-तत्पुरुषः (परान् वीरान् हन्ति इति)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: para (प्रातिपदिक) + vīra (प्रातिपदिक) + han (धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• सृजन्तम् + इषुजालानि → सृजन्तमिषुजालानि
• रुद्रः + अस्य → रुद्रोऽस्य
• दन्तान् + तु → दन्तांस्तु
• परवीरहा = पर + वीर + हा (उपपद-तत्पुरुष)

Speaker and setting

Raudra and Bibhatsa rasaSetting: Mythic battlefield

Speaker

Varāha

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Limits of force against transcendent fury

Subjects

MythologyConflict NarrativeDeity IconographyPuranic Literature

Core idea

When one confronts a principle of dissolution (Rudra) with mere projectile aggression, the response can be immediate ‘disarming’—symbolically removing the capacity to ‘bite/consume’ (teeth).

In practice

Know when confrontation is futile; seek reconciliation, right order, and humility rather than escalating against overwhelming destructive power.

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Narrative
• Śaiva-Vaiṣṇava Intertext
• Sanskrit Philology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a Purāṇic battle motif involving well-known Vedic figures (Rudra and Pūṣan), illustrating how later Sanskrit narrative literature reworks older deity profiles into dramatic conflict episodes.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific geographic location is named in this verse fragment; it is set generically 'in the great battle' (mahāmṛdhe).

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive; it conveys the intensity and consequences of violent conflict within mythic narrative rather than stating an explicit ethical injunction.