Varaha Purana 113.5: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 5
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Dialogue Opening (Pṛthivī addresses Kṛṣṇa/Keśava)
धरण्युवाच ॥ कल्पे कल्पे भवानेव मां समुद्धरते भवान् ॥ न बाहुश्चेष्टते मूर्तिर्मादृशीं गां च केशव ॥
dharaṇy uvāca || kalpe kalpe bhavān eva māṃ samuddharate bhavān || na bāhuś ceṣṭate mūrtir mādṛśīṃ gāṃ ca keśava ||
dharaNyuvAcha || kalpe kalpe bhavAneva mAM samuddharate bhavAn || na bAhushcheShTate mUrtirmAdRRishIM gAM cha keshava
धरती ने कहा, हर बार जब मुसीबत आती है, आप ही मुझे उठा लेते हो। आपकी मूरत हाथ नहीं हिलती जैसे दूसरे करते हैं, फिर भी आप जैसे मुझे जैसी धरती को उठा लेते हो, केशव।
Sandhi Notes
- धरण्युवाच = धरणी + उवाच
- भवानेव = भवान् + एव
- बाहुश्चेष्टते = बाहुः + चेष्टते
- मूर्तिर्मादृशीं = मूर्तिः + मादृशीम्
Pṛthivī (Dharaṇī)
Curious, awestruck, grateful
How do you, O Keśava, lift me each aeon without the exertion of arms—what is the nature of your embodied agency/power?
Divine action is effortless and non-limiting; the Lord’s embodiment is a mode of grace, not a constraint.
When acting in the world, reduce egoic strain: align intention with dharma and surrender outcomes—imitating (in miniature) the ideal of action without inner burden.
Emphasis is on non-arm exertion (na bāhuś ceṣṭate) and effortless lifting by Keśava
Direct address: Earth acknowledges repeated rescue each kalpa; marvels at his effortless agency in lifting her.
Earth’s question contrasts ordinary embodied effort (arms, exertion) with divine embodiment that operates by will (icchā-śakti) and māyā—suggesting the avatāra-body is not limited like jīva bodies.
Implicit: the Lord’s ‘body’ as cosmic instrument rather than muscular mechanism; the act is ritual-cosmic support, not physical labor.
Distinction between īśvara’s śarīra (divine manifestation) and jīva’s deha: īśvara acts without bondage; agency is grounded in omnipotent śakti, not in karmically constrained effort.
Foreshadowing only via the name Keśava (a principal epithet later central in Kṛṣṇa-bhakti), but no Mathurā-specific linkage in this verse.
Bhū–Varāha saṃvāda sections where Bhū-devī asks and Varāha instructs on dharma/vrata
FAQs
It foregrounds cyclical cosmology (repeated kalpas) and frames Earth as a speaking interlocutor—an important literary strategy for articulating environmental and moral concerns.
No specific location is identified; the speaker is the Earth herself, treated as a cosmic entity rather than a single site.
A reflection on responsibility and support: the world’s stability is presented as requiring sustaining agency beyond ordinary exertion, encouraging a stewardship-oriented worldview.
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