Varaha Purana 144.75: Adhyaya 144, Shloka 75
The Māhātmya of Someśvara and Related Liṅgas: The Liberation-Field of Triveṇī and the Śālagrāma Sacred Landscape
Uttara Bhāga · Vaiṣṇava-tapas and Hari-darśana (Ascetic practice and the quest for Viṣṇu’s vision)
विचार्येति तवाहं वै जातोऽस्मि स्वयमेव च ॥ तपसाराधयन् देवं शङ्खचक्रगदाधरम्
vicāryeti tavāhaṃ vai jāto'smi svayam eva ca || tapasārādhayan devaṃ śaṅkhacakragadādharam
vichAryeti tavAhaM vai jAto.asmi svayameva cha || tapasArAdhayandevaM sha~NkhachakragadAdharam
मैंने सोचा और खुद ही तुमसे पैदा हुआ। फिर मैंने तपस्या की और उस भगवान को खुश किया जो शंख, चक्र और गदा पकड़ता है।
Sandhi Notes
- तवाहं = तव + अहम्
- जातोऽस्मि = जातः + अस्मि
- तपसाराधयन् = तपसा + आराधयन् (स्वर-सन्धि)
- शङ्खचक्रगदाधरम् = शङ्ख-चक्र-गदा-धरम् (समास)
Varāha
Devotion and austerity are efficacious, yet divine manifestation ultimately rests on the Lord’s autonomous will; worship aligns the devotee with that will.
Practice disciplined devotion (upāsanā) with clear iṣṭa and symbols; accept outcomes as grace, not entitlement.
The verse juxtaposes self-willed manifestation (‘born of my own accord’) with devotion to the Viṣṇu-form—showing līlā: the Lord’s freedom to enter narratives while remaining the object of worship; it also hints at unity-in-diversity among deities within Purāṇic theology.
Conch-disc-mace function as cosmic order symbols: cakra=time/ṛta, śaṅkha=pranava/announcement of dharma, gadā=sovereign power; tapas becomes the inner yajña that ‘invokes’ these cosmic principles.
Īśvara is both immanent actor and transcendent ground; apparent causality (tapas leading to propitiation) operates within vyavahāra, while the Lord’s ‘own accord’ points to paramārtha freedom.
Upāsanā through tapas directed to the proper iṣṭa-devatā (here, Viṣṇu with conch-disc-mace) is presented as a legitimate means to attain desired outcomes and divine proximity.
Focused devotion yields divine favor and purposeful birth/mission; scattered worship and ego-driven austerity yield lesser or unstable fruits.
Foreshadowing only in emblematic form: the Lord with śaṅkha-cakra-gadā is the Viṣṇu archetype later central to Kṛṣṇa’s identity as Bhagavān.
Varāha Purāṇa 144.81-82 (birth as son; tapas intention)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic narrative pattern in which ascetic practice (tapas) is presented as a culturally valued discipline linked to divine encounter and legitimacy of lineage or mission.
No specific place-name appears in this verse.
The verse foregrounds disciplined self-cultivation (tapas) and focused devotion as a means of inner transformation and narrative causality.
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