Varaha Purana 113.16: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 16

Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry

Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue

Uttara Bhāga · Public recitation and assent (ṛṣi audience frame)

Devanagari script

धरण्युवाच ॥ शृण्वन्तु ऋषयः सर्वे यत्तद्विष्णुमुखाच्छ्रुतम् ॥ बाढमित्येव तां देवी स्वस्ति ब्रूहीति सोऽब्रवीत्

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 113.16

Transliteration

dharaṇy uvāca || śṛṇvantu ṛṣayaḥ sarve yat tad viṣṇu-mukhāc chrutam || bāḍham ity eva tāṃ devī svasti brūhīti so 'bravīt

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

धरती बोली, सब रिशि सुनो, यह बात विष्णु के मुँह से सुनी है। सब बोले, ठीक है, बोलो। फिर उन्होंने धरती से कहा, अच्छा बोलो, आशीर्वाद दो।

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Word by Word

• dharaṇī: Earth (Dharaṇī)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine, Nominative (1st), Singular
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: dharaṇī (प्रातिपदिक)

• uvāca: said
• Type: Verb
• Form: Perfect (लिट्), 3rd Person, Singular
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: vac (वच् धातु)

• śṛṇvantu: let (them) hear
• Type: Verb
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 3rd Person, Plural (बहुवचन)
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: śru (श्रु धातु)

• ṛṣayaḥ: sages
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st), Plural
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: ṛṣi (प्रातिपदिक)

• sarve: all
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine, Nominative, Plural; agrees with ‘ṛṣayaḥ’
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: sarva (प्रातिपदिक)

• yat: which/that (what)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd), Singular; relative pronoun introducing clause
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• tat: that
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular; correlative to ‘yat’
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• viṣṇu-mukhāt: from Viṣṇu’s mouth
• Type: Noun
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (तत्पुरुष) ‘viṣṇoḥ mukham’; Neuter, Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular
• Role: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Root: viṣṇu (प्रातिपदिक) + mukha (प्रातिपदिक)

• śrutam: heard
• Type: Verb
• Form: Past passive participle (क्त), Neuter, Nominative/Accusative, Singular; ‘heard’
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: śru (धातु)

• bāḍham: certainly/indeed/so be it
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; particle of assent (समर्थनार्थक निपात)
• Role: Sambodhana/Prayojana (प्रयोग-निपात)
• Root: bāḍha (अव्यय-प्रातिपदिक)

• iti: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Quotative particle (इति-निपात)
• Role: Vākyārtha-dyotaka (वाक्यार्थद्योतक)
• Root: iti (अव्यय)

• eva: indeed/just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Emphatic particle (अवधारण)
• Role: Vākyārtha-dyotaka (वाक्यार्थद्योतक)
• Root: eva (अव्यय)

• tām: her/that (lady)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine, Accusative (2nd), Singular
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• devī: O goddess
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine, Vocative (8th/सम्बोधन), Singular
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)

• svasti: well-being/auspiciousness
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Benedictive indeclinable (मङ्गलार्थक अव्यय)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: svasti (अव्यय)

• brūhi: say/tell
• Type: Verb
• Form: Imperative (लोट्), 2nd Person (मध्यमपुरुष), Singular
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: brū (ब्रू धातु)

• iti: thus
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Quotative particle
• Role: Vākyārtha-dyotaka (वाक्यार्थद्योतक)
• Root: iti (अव्यय)

• saḥ: he
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st), Singular
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• abravīt: said/spoke
• Type: Verb
• Form: Imperfect (लङ्), 3rd Person, Singular
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: brū (ब्रू धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• dharaṇy uvāca = dharaṇī + uvāca (ī + u → y u)
• yattad = yat + tat
• mukhāc chrutam = mukhāt + śrutam (t + ś → cch)
• so 'bravīt = saḥ + abravīt (visarga elision before vowel)

Speaker and setting

Shanta and Adbhuta rasaSetting: Discursive/ritual assembly space

Speaker

Dharaṇī (Pṛthivī/Earth); additional voices: sages/unspecified male speaker in closing phrase

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Composed, didactic; intent on formal transmission of what was heard from Viṣṇu

What she asks

Implicit: how should the sages properly hear/receive and seal (with svasti) the teaching that came from Viṣṇu’s mouth?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Epistemology of tradition (śravaṇa–paramparā)

Subjects

EthicsTransmission of teachingsBlessing formulae

Core idea

Revelatory authority is maintained through faithful hearing, communal witnessing (ṛṣis), and auspicious closure (svasti).

In practice

When teaching dharma/itihāsa-purāṇa, cite source, invite attentive listening, and conclude with maṅgala/benediction to orient the mind toward sattva.

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Vaiṣṇava narrative
• Oral-textual transmission
• Sanskrit discourse markers

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It highlights an oral-authentication motif—‘heard from Viṣṇu’s mouth’—and shows communal reception (‘bāḍham’) typical of Purāṇic performance contexts.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic place-name is present in this verse.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Attentive listening to transmitted teaching and beginning discourse with auspicious speech (svasti) as a cultural-discursive norm.