Varaha Purana 144.3: Adhyaya 144, Shloka 3
The Māhātmya of Someśvara and Related Liṅgas: The Liberation-Field of Triveṇī and the Śālagrāma Sacred Landscape
Uttara Bhāga · Śālagrāma-kṣetra Introduction (Sacred Geography and Material Culture)
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ शृणु तत्त्वेन मे देवि यन्मां त्वं परिपृच्छसि ॥ कथयिष्यामि मे गुह्यं शालग्राममिति स्मृतम्
śrī-varāha uvāca || śṛṇu tattvena me devi yan māṃ tvaṃ paripṛcchasi || kathayiṣyāmi me guhyaṃ śālagrāmam iti smṛtam
shrIvarAha uvAcha || shRRiNu tattvena me devi yanmAM tvaM paripRRichChasi || kathayiShyAmi me guhyaM shAlagrAmamiti smRRitam
वराह भगवान बोले कि देवी, जो तुम मुझसे पूछ रही हो, वो सच में सुनो। मैं तुम्हे एक गुप्त बात बताता हूँ जिसे शालग्राम कहते हैं।
Sandhi Notes
- यन्मां = यत् + माम् (त् + म् → न्म्)
- श्रीवराह = श्री-वराह (समास)
Varāha
Attentive, receptive, inquisitive (having asked)
What is that supreme place/secret called Śālagrāma, and why is it highest?
Truthful listening (tattvena śravaṇa) to the Lord’s instruction reveals hidden sanctity; sacredness can be concentrated in a divinely marked form (Śālagrāma)
Adopt disciplined listening and reverence toward teachings on sacred forms; integrate Śālagrāma-centered worship (where tradition permits) with ethical living
Varāha directly instructs Earth (Devi) in response to her question; intimate guru-disciple dialogue
Varāha as revealer of ‘guhya’ (secret) indicates the Lord as inner controller whose presence is accessible through sacred forms (arcā/śilā) like Śālagrāma—linking cosmic Viṣṇu to tangible ritual presence
Implicit rather than anatomical: ‘guhya’ teaching + Śālagrāma as Viṣṇu’s embodied sign used in yajña/arcana; the Lord becomes the worshipped ‘substance’ enabling sacrifice and devotion
Arcā-avatāra principle: nirguṇa-brahman/paramātman graciously becomes knowable through saguna forms; ‘tattvena śṛṇu’ stresses truth-knowledge (tattva-jñāna) as the basis of liberation-oriented practice
Vaiṣṇava material culture (Śālagrāma) supports later Kṛṣṇa-bhakti, but no direct Kṛṣṇa reference here
Earth’s question about a superior place (144.2.0); Beginning of Śālagrāma-upākhyāna/mahatmya (this verse)
FAQs
It introduces Śālagrāma as a ‘guhya’ topic, illustrating how Purāṇas authorize sacred geography and associated traditions through divine instruction.
Śālagrāma is named as the subject to be explained; in wider Sanskrit traditions it is linked with a sacred riverine landscape (commonly associated with the Gandakī region), though this verse itself does not specify.
Approach instruction ‘tattvena’—with commitment to truth and careful listening—before engaging sacred knowledge.
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