Varaha Purana 112.77: Adhyaya 112, Shloka 77
Praise and Procedure of Donating the Two-Faced Kapilā Cow and the Golden Pot
Hema-kumbha
Pūrva Bhāga · Birth imagery and Earth-identification (Pr̥thivī motif)
जायमानस्य वत्सस्य मुखं योन्यां प्रदृश्यते ॥ तावत्सा पृथिवी ज्ञेया यावद्गर्भं न मुञ्चति ॥
jāyamānasya vatsasya mukhaṃ yonyāṃ pradṛśyate || tāvat sā pṛthivī jñeyā yāvad garbhaṃ na muñcati ||
jAyamAnasya vatsasya mukhaM yonyAM pradRRishyate || tAvatsA pRRithivI j~neyA yAvadgarbhaM na mu~nchati
जब बच्चा पैदा हो रहा होता है, उसका चेहरा माँ के पेट में दिखाई देता है। जब तक माँ बच्चे को बाहर नहीं निकालती, तब तक उसे पृथ्वी माना जाता है।
Sandhi Notes
- तावत्सा = तावत् + सा
- यावद्गर्भं = यावत् + गर्भम् (द् + ग् → द्ग)
Varāha
‘Earth’ is that which bears and supports until release—gestation as a model for cosmic support and compassionate ethics.
Cultivate reverence for Earth and maternal processes; practice non-harm and stewardship toward land and cattle as bearers of life.
Varāha teaches Earth-symbolism through bovine birth imagery, aligning Bhū with generativity and bearing/bringing forth.
Earth is defined by ‘bearing’ (pṛthivī as the bearer): the womb-bearing cow becomes a living metaphor for Bhū who holds beings until they emerge; Varāha’s cosmology ties fertility, support, and manifestation.
Womb/bearing as the ‘field’ (kṣetra) from which life arises; emergence parallels manifestation from unmanifest to manifest—like offerings emerging as results through yajña.
Kṣetra–kṣetrajña framing: the ‘bearing’ body/earth as field of experience; compassion and restraint follow from seeing all beings as carried by Bhū.
Varāha Purāṇa 112.112.2–3 (earth–cow symbolism progression)
FAQs
It exemplifies Purāṇic symbolic reasoning, mapping biological processes (birth) onto cosmological categories (Earth), a common didactic strategy.
No geographic site is named; ‘pṛthivī’ is a cosmological category rather than a place-name here.
An ethic of reverent attention to generative processes, using Earth as a metaphor for gestation and protection.
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