Varaha Purana 139.82: Adhyaya 139, Shloka 82

The Glory of Varāha’s Rite: Merits of Cow-dung Plastering, Sweeping, Singing, Instrumental Music, and Dance

with a Truth-Vow Exemplum

Uttara Bhāga · Autobiographical Confession: Death During an Ongoing Sacrifice

Devanagari script

प्रवर्तमाने यज्ञे तु कदाचिद्दैवयोगतः ॥ उदरे जातशूलोऽहं तेन पञ्चत्वमागतः ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 139.82

Transliteration

pravartamāne yajñe tu kadācid daivayogataḥ || udare jātaśūlo 'haṃ tena pañcatvam āgataḥ ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

एक बार यज्ञ चल रहा था। अचानक मेरी किस्मत फेर गई और पेट में दर्द हुआ। उस दर्द की वजह से मैं मर गया।

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Word by Word

• प्रवर्तमाने: while (it) was going on
• Type: Adjective
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (locative), एकवचन (singular); सति-सप्तमी (locative absolute) with ‘यज्ञे’
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: प्र + वृत् (धातु) → प्रवर्तमान (कृदन्त; शतृ/वर्तमानकाले कृदन्त present participle)

• यज्ञे: in the sacrifice
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सप्तमी (locative), एकवचन (singular); सति-सप्तमी सह
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: यज्ञ (प्रातिपदिक)

• तु: but/indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय (particle/concessive/contrast)
• Role: Discourse particle (निपात)
• Root: तु (अव्यय)

• कदाचित्: once/sometime
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय (adverb of time)
• Role: Kāla-adhikaraṇa (कालाधिकरण)
• Root: कदाचित् (अव्यय)

• दैव-योगतः: by fate/by divine coincidence
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय (adverbial in -तस्): ‘due to divine chance/fate’; तत्पुरुष-आधारित
• Role: Hetu (हेतु)
• Root: दैव (प्रातिपदिक) + योगतस् (अव्यय-प्राय; तसिल्)

• उदरे: in the belly/abdomen
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (neuter), सप्तमी (locative), एकवचन (singular)
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: उदर (प्रातिपदिक)

• जात-शूलः: one in whom pain arose / stricken with colic
• Type: Adjective
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (nominative), एकवचन (singular); कर्मधारयः (‘pain arisen’)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: जात (कृदन्त; √जन् → क्त) + शूल (प्रातिपदिक)

• अहम्: I
• Type: Noun
• Form: सर्वनाम, प्रथमा, एकवचन
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: अस्मद् (प्रातिपदिक)

• तेन: therefore/by that
• Type: Noun
• Form: सर्वनाम, नपुंसकलिङ्ग/पुंलिङ्ग, तृतीया (instrumental), एकवचन (singular)
• Role: Hetu/Karaṇa (हेतु/करण)
• Root: तद् (प्रातिपदिक)

• पञ्चत्वम्: death (state of being five elements)
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: पञ्चत्व (प्रातिपदिक; पञ्च + त्व)

• आगतः: reached/attained
• Type: Verb
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; क्त-प्रत्यय; ‘came/attained’ (finite sense)
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: आ + गम् (धातु) → आगत (कृदन्त; क्त-प्रत्यय)

Sandhi Notes

• kadāciddaivayogataḥ = kadācit + daivayogataḥ
• jātaśūlo 'haṃ = jātaśūlaḥ + aham (visarga sandhi)

Speaker and setting

Bhayanaka and Karuna rasaSetting: Ritual space

Speaker

Brahma-rākṣasa (Somaśarman)

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Impermanence + karma

Subjects

Ritual PracticeMortalityKarma Theory

Core idea

Even ‘daiva-yoga’ (turn of fate) operates through karmic conditions; death can arrive mid-duty, leaving unresolved obligations.

In practice

Perform duties with vigilance and purity; cultivate bhakti/inner readiness, recognizing life’s uncertainty.

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Purāṇic Literature
• Ritual Narrative
• Sanskrit Biography
• Ethical Causality

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a ritual-context narrative where mortality interrupts liturgical action, a theme used in Sanskrit texts to discuss the fragility of human agency amid ritual obligations.

Which geographic location is identified?

No location is provided.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Human plans, even sacred rites, remain vulnerable to contingency; the narrative prepares for reflection on how incomplete or flawed acts bear consequences.