Varaha Purana 136.118: Adhyaya 136, Shloka 118
A Sūtra-like Manual of Expiations for Ritual Transgressions
Uttara Bhāga · Prāyaścitta (Expiation instruction)
यस्य कस्यचिन्मासस्य शुक्लपक्षे तु द्वादशी ॥ आकाशशयनं कृत्वा शीघ्रं मुच्येत किल्बिषात् ॥
yasya kasyacin māsasya śuklapakṣe tu dvādaśī || ākāśaśayanaṁ kṛtvā śīghraṁ mucyeta kilbiṣāt
yasya kasyachinmAsasya shuklapakShe tu dvAdashI || AkAshashayanaM kRRitvA shIghraM muchyeta kilbiShAt
किसी भी महीने की शुक्ल पक्ष की द्वादशी को आसमान के नीचे सो कर व्रत रखना। इससे जल्दी पाप से छुटकारा मिल जाएगा।
Sandhi Notes
- कस्यचिन्मासस्य = कस्यचित् + मासस्य
- शुक्लपक्षे = शुक्ल-पक्षे (समास)
- आकाशशयनं = आकाश-शयनम् (समास)
Varāha
Purification is accelerated by voluntary discomfort aligned with sacred time and intention.
On śukla-dvādaśī, sleep outdoors (safely), maintain purity/restraint, and dedicate the act to removal of kīlbiṣa.
Varāha specifies the concrete prāyaścitta act (ākāśa-śayana) for Bhū/Devī’s benefit.
Open-sky sleeping symbolizes surrender to cosmic order (ṛta) and exposure of the self to the vastness of Brahman/Viṣṇu’s sky-like pervasion, reducing ego and concealment that sustain sin.
Ākāśa as the ‘altar-canopy’ of the cosmos; the practitioner’s body becomes the offering-site through restraint and vulnerability under the heavens.
Ākāśa as a classical pointer to all-pervading reality; tapas as antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi (inner purification) enabling dharmic clarity.
On any month’s śukla Dvādaśī, perform ākāśa-śayana (sleeping under the open sky) to be quickly freed from sin.
Quick release from kīlbiṣa (sin) through the austerity/discipline of open-sky sleeping on the prescribed tithi.
Śīghraṃ mucyate kīlbiṣāt—rapid purification from sin.
Varāha Purāṇa 136.136.1 (announcement of prāyaścitta)
FAQs
It preserves a specific bodily observance (ākāśaśayana) as part of expiatory practice, reflecting how Purāṇic texts encode ritual austerities alongside calendrical timing.
No specific location is named; the practice concerns exposure to the open sky rather than a pilgrimage site.
It recommends a defined austerity on dvādaśī as a remedial discipline intended to remove moral fault (kilbiṣa).
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