Varaha Purana 144.36: Adhyaya 144, Shloka 36

The Māhātmya of Someśvara and Related Liṅgas: The Liberation-Field of Triveṇī and the Śālagrāma Sacred Landscape

Devanagari script

गण्डक्यापि पुरा तप्तं वर्षाणामयुतं विधो ॥ शीर्णपर्णाशनं कृत्वा वायुभक्षा अप्यनन्तरम् ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 144.36

Transliteration

gaṇḍakyāpi purā taptaṁ varṣāṇām ayutaṁ vidho || śīrṇaparṇāśanaṁ kṛtvā vāyubhakṣā apy anantaram ||

Translation

गंडकी ने भी पहले दस हज़ार साल तक तपस्या की। पहले वो सूखे पत्ते खाती थी, बाद में सिर्फ़ हवा पे ज़िन्दगी बिताने लगी।

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Word by Word

• गण्डक्या: by/with Gaṇḍakī
• गण्डक्या: Karana (करणम्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: गण्डकी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, तृतीया (3rd/तृतीया), एकवचन

• अपि: also/even
• अपि: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle: also/even)

• पुरा: formerly
• पुरा: Kala-adhikarana (कालाधिकरणम्)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: पुरा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb of time: formerly)

• तप्तम्: performed austerity / did penance
• तप्तम्: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Type: Verb
• Root: √तप् (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: भूतकृत् (क्त), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘taptam’ = performed austerity/was heated (context: तपः कृतम्)

• वर्षाणाम्: of years
• वर्षाणाम्: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वर्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी (6th/षष्ठी), बहुवचन

• अयुतम्: ten thousand
• अयुतम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: अयुत (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; संख्यावाचक (numeral)

• विधो: O Vidhu (O lord)
• विधो: Sambodhana (सम्बोधनम्)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विधु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (8th), एकवचन; ‘vidho’ (O moon-like one / O lord)

• शीर्ण-पर्ण-आशनम्: eating of withered leaves
• शीर्ण-पर्ण-आशनम्: Karma (कर्म)
• Type: Noun
• Root: शीर्ण (कृदन्त/प्रातिपदिक) + पर्ण (प्रातिपदिक) + आशन (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd), एकवचन; कर्मधारय/तत्पुरुष-समासः (withered-leaf-eating)

• कृत्वा: having done
• कृत्वा: Purvakala-kriya (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: √कृ (धातु) (कृदन्त)
• Form: क्त्वान्त (absolutive/gerund), अव्ययभावः

• वायु-भक्षाः: (those) living on air
• वायु-भक्षाः: Karta (कर्ता)
• Type: Noun
• Root: वायु (प्रातिपदिक) + भक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष (vāyoḥ bhakṣāḥ) ‘air-eaters’

• अपि: also
• अपि: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अपि (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (particle: also/even)

• अनन्तरम्: afterwards
• अनन्तरम्: Kala-adhikarana (कालाधिकरणम्)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: अनन्तर (प्रातिपदिक/अव्ययप्राय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb: afterwards/next)

Speaker

Varāha (default framework)

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Vaishnavism
• Ascetic Traditions
• Ecological Ethics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a standard Purāṇic ascetic topos—extreme tapas measured in vast time—used to authorize the sanctity of a place or figure within a tīrtha narrative.

Which geographic location is identified?

Gaṇḍakī is associated in Sanskrit literature with the Gaṇḍak River region (linked to Śālagrāma traditions in later reception), though the verse itself foregrounds the ascetic figure/place-name rather than a cartographic detail.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse highlights discipline and restraint as formative virtues; in heritage terms, it frames landscapes as shaped by remembered practices of self-limitation rather than extraction.