Varaha Purana 134.12: Adhyaya 134, Shloka 12
Expiations for Ritual and Temporal Offences in Worship, and the Prescribed Purificatory Procedure
Upaspṛśya
Uttara Bhāga · Ācāra-vidhi (Purificatory rites and devotional conduct)
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ शृणु तत्त्वेन मे देवि यन्मां त्वं भीरु भाषसे ॥ कथितं मम तत्त्वेन गुह्यमेतत्परं महत्
śrīvarāha uvāca || śṛṇu tattvena me devi yan māṃ tvaṃ bhīru bhāṣase || kathitaṃ mama tattvena guhyam etat paraṃ mahat
shrIvarAha uvAcha || shRRiNu tattvena me devi yanmAM tvaM bhIru bhAShase || kathitaM mama tattvena guhyametatparaM mahat
वराह भगवान बोले। देवी, सुनो मैं सच-सच बताता हूँ जो तुमने पूछा है। यह एक राज़ की बात है, बड़ी इम्पॉर्टेंट चीज़ है। मैं तुम्हे सही-सही समझा रहा हूँ।
Varāha
Timid/awed yet attentive (bhīru addressed), receptive to instruction.
Implicitly: the same doubt from 134.12—Varāha signals he will answer the asked matter in tattva (true principle) as a profound secret.
True instruction (tattvena) is to be heard attentively; profound teachings may be ‘guhya’ and require receptivity and trust in the teacher.
Adopt śravaṇa-bhāva: listen carefully, suspend distraction, and treat the forthcoming rule/teaching as precise and authoritative.
Direct instruction to Bhu Devi: he accepts her question and frames the reply as truthful and secret (guhya).
‘guhya’ and ‘tattva’ mark an esoteric doctrinal register often associated with mokṣa-oriented instruction.
Implicit: tattva-upadeśa and guhya-śāstra tone resonates with Upaniṣadic secrecy/adhikāra (fitness) principles, but no direct mapping is given.
This verse is the upakrama (preface) to a dharma/ritual-philosophical disclosure.
Immediate continuation into procedural instruction (134.14–16) shows ‘guhya’ can include precise ritual praxis, not only metaphysics.
FAQs
The verse signals a transition into an authoritative instructional passage, using classical markers of secrecy (guhya) and doctrinal framing (tattva).
No location is specified; the verse functions as a discourse preface.
It frames ritual instruction as grounded in truth-principle (tattva) and to be transmitted responsibly as a ‘guhya’ teaching.
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