Varaha Purana 13.37: Adhyaya 13, Shloka 37
The Genealogy of the Pitṛs and the Determination of Śrāddha Times
Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-ācāra (Ritual observances and auspicious practices)
नक्षत्रग्रहपीडासु दुष्टस्वप्नावलोकने । इच्छाश्राद्धानि कुर्वीत नवसस्यागमे तथा ॥ १३.३७ ॥
nakṣatragrahapīḍāsu duṣṭasvapnāvalokane | icchāśrāddhāni kurvīta navasasyāgame tathā || 13.37 ||
nakShatragrahapIDAsu duShTasvapnAvalokane | ichChAshrAddhAni kurvIta navasasyAgame tathA || 13.37 ||
जब ग्रह और नक्षत्र तुम्हे परेशान करें, या तुम कोई बुरा सपना देखो, तब श्राद्ध कर सकते हो। नए फसल आने पर भी यह करना अच्छा है। यह तुम्हारी मर्ज़ी है, जब तुम दिल से करना चाहते हो।
Sandhi Notes
- nakṣatragrahapīḍāsu = nakṣatra-graha-pīḍāsu
- duṣṭasvapnāvalokane = duṣṭa-svapna-avalokane
- icchāśrāddhāni = icchā-śrāddhāni
- navasasyāgame = nava-sasya-āgame
Varāha
Concerned, seeking remedies
In times of omens, planetary afflictions, or life-transitions like new harvest, what dharmic act can be done voluntarily to restore auspiciousness and honor the ancestors?
Dharma provides constructive responses to uncertainty—ritual remembrance and giving convert liminal/ominous moments into merit.
When disturbed by omens or during seasonal transitions, choose a sattvic corrective: śrāddha/tarpaṇa, feeding brāhmaṇas/poor, and disciplined conduct.
Guidance offered within the Varāha teaching frame.
When the mind is shaken by omens (svapna) or the sky by graha-doṣa, voluntary śrāddha re-centers the person in ṛta—turning disorder into offering.
New harvest (navasasyāgama) as first-fruits offering logic; planetary affliction as ‘disturbed altar’ corrected by pitṛ-yajña and purification.
Transforms reactive fear into sattvic action; remembrance of lineage and impermanence steadies the mind (citta-śuddhi) amid perceived cosmic turbulence.
Perform optional (icchā) śrāddha during graha/nakṣatra afflictions, after inauspicious dreams, and at the coming of new grain/harvest.
Such śrāddha functions as appeasement and merit-making—mitigating fear/inauspiciousness and increasing pitṛ-anugraha; neglect leaves anxiety/inauspicious signs unaddressed.
Varāha Purāṇa 13.13.35-36 (fixed śrāddha times)
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic formulation of optional domestic rites (śrāddha) linked to perceived astral adversity, dream-omens, and agrarian seasonal markers, illustrating how ritual life was integrated with cosmological and agricultural calendars.
No specific geographic location is named in this verse; the reference is to general life-situations (astral affliction, omens, and harvest time) rather than a pilgrimage site.
The verse recommends a voluntary, intention-based observance—performing ancestral rites as a culturally sanctioned response to distress, ominous experiences, and seasonal transitions, emphasizing continuity of familial remembrance and social-ritual responsibility.
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