Varaha Purana 131.8: Adhyaya 131, Shloka 8
Expiation for Chewing the Tooth-stick
Dantakāṣṭha
Uttara Bhāga · Prāyaścitta (Ritual Atonements) — Instructional Response
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ एवमेतन्महाभागे यन्मां त्वं परिपृच्छसि ॥ कथयिष्यामि हीदं ते यथा शुध्यन्ति मानवाः ॥
śrīvarāha uvāca || evam etan mahābhāge yan māṃ tvaṃ paripṛcchasi || kathayiṣyāmi hīdaṃ te yathā śudhyanti mānavāḥ ||
shrIvarAha uvAcha || evametanmahAbhAge yanmAM tvaM paripRRichChasi || kathayiShyAmi hIdaM te yathA shuddhyanti mAnavAH
वराह बोले, हाँ, तुमने जो पूछा वो सही है। मैं तुम्हे अब बताता हूँ कि इंसान खुद को साफ कैसे करें।
Sandhi Notes
- śrīvarāha→śrī-varāhaḥ
- evametan→evam etat
- mahābhāge kept as compound
- yanmām→yat mām
- hīdaṃ→hi idam
Varāha
Relieved and attentive; her inquiry is validated and will be answered systematically.
How do humans become purified—what concrete prāyaścitta/śauca steps restore dharma after fault?
Right questioning (paripraśna) invites right instruction; purification is teachable, procedural, and accessible through dharmic means.
Adopt a learning posture: ask precisely, follow instructions faithfully, and treat purification as a disciplined practice rather than mere sentiment.
Varāha responds affirmatively to Bhū-devī’s query and undertakes to teach the method of human purification (śuddhi).
Varāha authorizes and introduces a structured teaching on śuddhi: the means by which humans are purified after faults in conduct/purity.
Following the forthcoming purification method restores eligibility, merit, and dharmic stability; neglect leaves impurity and demerit unresolved.
Varāha Purāṇa 131.4 (topic introduction: offense and karma); Varāha Purāṇa 131.7 (Dharā’s prāyaścitta question)
FAQs
It marks the didactic pivot from inquiry to prescription, a common structural feature in Purāṇic and dharma-oriented literature.
No geographic reference is present in this verse.
Purification is presented as teachable and procedural, emphasizing learning and adherence rather than mere intention.
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