Varaha Purana 134.36: Adhyaya 134, Shloka 36

Expiations for Ritual and Temporal Offences in Worship, and the Prescribed Purificatory Procedure

Upaspṛśya

Devanagari script

आत्मकर्मापराधेन प्राप्तः संसारसागरे ॥ धरण्युवाच ॥ अहो वै परमं गुह्यं यत्त्वया पूर्वभाषितम् ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 134.36

Transliteration

ātma-karmāparādhena prāptaḥ saṃsāra-sāgare || dharaṇy uvāca || aho vai paramaṃ guhyaṃ yat tvayā pūrva-bhāṣitam ||

Translation

अपने ही करम की गलती से इंसान इस संसार के समुंदर में फंस जाता है। धरणी ने कहा, अरे यह तो बहुत बड़ा राज़ है जो तुमने पहले बताया।

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Word by Word

• ātma-karmāparādhena: by the offense of one’s own actions
• ātma-karmāparādhena: Karaṇa/Hetu (करण/हेतु)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ātman + karma + aparādha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (sg)

• prāptaḥ: having reached / fallen into
• prāptaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: prāpta (कृदन्त) from √āp (आप्) with pra-
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (sg); भूतकृदन्त (past participle)

• saṃsāra-sāgare: in the ocean of transmigration
• saṃsāra-sāgare: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: saṃsāra + sāgara (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (m.), सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन (sg)

• dharaṇī: Earth (goddess)
• dharaṇī: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dharaṇī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (sg)

• uvāca: said
• uvāca: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √vac (वच्)
• Form: लिट् (Perfect), परस्मैपद (Parasmaipada), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd), एकवचन (sg)

• aho: ah!/oh!
• aho: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/interjection)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: aho (अव्यय)
• Form: विस्मयादिबोधक निपात (interjection)

• vai: indeed
• vai: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vai (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphatic particle)

• paramaṃ: supreme/very great
• paramaṃ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: parama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (sg)

• guhyaṃ: secret
• guhyaṃ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: guhya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (sg)

• yat: which/that (thing)
• yat: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (sg); सम्बन्धसूचक (relative pronoun)

• tvayā: by you
• tvayā: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tvam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम (2nd person pronoun), तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), एकवचन (sg)

• pūrva-bhāṣitam: previously spoken
• pūrva-bhāṣitam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: pūrva + bhāṣita (कृदन्त)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (1st/2nd), एकवचन (sg); भूतकृदन्त ‘bhāṣita’ from √bhāṣ (भाष्)

Speaker

Pṛthivī/Dharaṇī (explicit: dharaṇy uvāca)

Tags

• Purāṇic Literature
• Varāha–Pṛthivī Dialogue
• Karma Doctrine
• Sanskrit Narrative Formulas

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a classic Purāṇic dialogic marker (“X uvāca”) and a common metaphor (“ocean of saṃsāra”), useful for tracing intertextual ethical imagery.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific geography is identified; “saṃsāra-sāgara” is metaphorical rather than a physical ocean.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Personal responsibility is emphasized: one’s own actions (and their faults) lead to entanglement in cyclical existence.