Varaha Purana 114.5: Adhyaya 114, Shloka 5
The Varāha Incarnation and Pṛthivī’s Inquiries on Ritual Procedure and Devotional Outcomes
Pūrva Bhāga · Pṛthivī-uddhāra (Varāha and the Restoration of Earth)
एवमाश्वासयित्वा तु वसुधां स च माधवः ॥ रूपं संकल्पयामास वाराहं सुमहौजसम् ॥
evam āśvāsayitvā tu vasudhāṃ sa ca mādhavaḥ || rūpaṃ saṃkalpayāmāsa vārāhaṃ sumahaujasam ||
evamAshvAsayitvA tu vasudhAM sa cha mAdhavaH || rUpaM saMkalpayAmAsa vArAhaM sumahaujasam
इतना कह के माधव ने वसुंधरा को अश्योर कर दिया। फिर उन्होंने सोचा कि मैं वराह बन जाता हूँ। एक ऐसा वराह जो बहुत ताकतवर हो।
Sandhi Notes
- evamāśvāsayitvā = evam + āśvāsayitvā
- sumahaujasam = su + mahā + ojas (vowel coalescence)
Narrator (implicit Purāṇic voice)
Reassured (āśvāsitā)
Compassion becomes action through embodiment; divine power is directed by benevolence.
Let reassurance be followed by effective action; align strength (ojas) with protection of the vulnerable and restoration of balance.
Varāha-form described as ‘sumahā-ojas’ (exceedingly mighty); the act is ‘rūpa-saṅkalpa’ (self-conceived manifestation).
After consoling Earth, he prepares to act for her rescue by manifesting the Varāha body.
The avatāra arises from divine saṅkalpa: form is assumed for loka-saṅgraha (world-welfare), showing compassion expressed as cosmic power.
Seed of Yajña-Varāha idea: the Lord ‘conceives’ a form to restore order, like yajña manifesting ṛta; explicit limb-mappings appear in other tellings, not here.
Saguna manifestation for the sake of the world: the formless/supreme assumes a purposeful form without loss of transcendence (avatāra as līlā and dharma-saṃsthāpana).
114.3.0 (āśvāsana/promise); 114.6.0 (measure of the form); 114.7.0 (lifting with tusk)
FAQs
It attests to the Varāha motif as a textual source for later visual and ritual iconography, linking cosmic rescue with a specific avatāra form.
No specific location is named; the action concerns the Earth as a whole.
The verse underscores protective intervention: power is portrayed as being directed toward restoration rather than domination.
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