Varaha Purana 140.75: Adhyaya 140, Shloka 75
The Greatness of Kokāmukha (Badarī): Varāha’s Hidden Abode and the Sacred Waters
Pūrva Bhāga · Tīrtha-Māhātmya (Result of bathing at the secret site; Meru imagery)
यस्तत्र कुरुते स्नानं देवि गुह्ये ततः परे ॥ तिष्ठते पद्मपत्रे तु सोत्तरे मेरुसंश्रिते ॥
yas tatra kurute snānaṃ devi guhye tataḥ pare || tiṣṭhate padma-patre tu sottare meru-saṃśrite ||
yastatra kurute snAnaM devi guhye tataH pare || tiShThate padmapatre tu sottare merusaMshrite
देवी, जो उस छुपे हुए जगह पर नहा ले, वो सबसे बड़ा फल पाता है। वो मेरु पर कमल के पत्ते पर रहता है, उत्तर दिशा में।
Sandhi Notes
- यस्तत्र = यः + तत्र (ः + त् → स्त्)
- सोत्तरे = स + उत्तरे (अ + उ → ओ)
Varāha
Attentive, seeking assurance about tīrtha-phala
What is the cosmic फल (result) for one who bathes at this secret, supreme place?
Ritual purity and sacred geography cooperate: right action at the right place yields elevation of being (loka-prāpti).
Treat tīrtha practice as disciplined sādhana—purity, secrecy (guhyatā), and reverence are integral to its promised fruit.
Varāha promises Bhū-devī a post-mortem/cosmic reward for bathing at a ‘secret’ tīrtha, describing the soul’s exalted station.
Lotus-leaf abiding suggests purity and non-adhesion: the meritorious one ‘rests’ unstained, supported by cosmic order (Meru). The ‘north’ signals uttara-mārga (higher path) imagery in Purāṇic cosmography.
Lotus (padma) as purity-seat; Meru as cosmic axis supporting the ‘station’ of the purified—ritual purity translated into cosmological placement.
Purification (citta-śuddhi) yields higher loka-experience; lotus-leaf metaphor aligns with non-attachment (as in ‘padma-patram ivāmbhasā’ style imagery) though here expressed as a loka-fruit.
Bathing at the ‘guhya’ (secret) tīrtha yields an exalted celestial abiding—likened to resting on a lotus-leaf in the northern region near Meru.
Merit leads to elevated post-mortem station; implied purification and ascent through tīrtha-snāna.
Varāha Purāṇa 140.85 (crossing Meru and reaching Gama-loka)
FAQs
It integrates tīrtha practice with mythic cosmography (Meru, northern region), showing how local pilgrimage was narrated within a pan-Indic cosmic map.
Meru is a mythic cosmic mountain in Purāṇic geography; the immediate ritual locus remains the ‘secret’ Matsyaśilā/Kokāmukha area described in the chapter.
The verse presents disciplined ritual action at a protected (‘guhya’) site as leading to elevated states, encouraging careful stewardship and respectful conduct at culturally sensitive locales.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
