Varaha Purana 145.57: Adhyaya 145, Shloka 57
The Greatness of the Śālagrāma Sacred Region
तत्र देवप्रभं नाम गुह्यं क्षेत्रं परं मम ॥ धाराः पञ्चमुखास्तत्र पतन्ति गिरिसंश्रिताः ॥
tatra devaprabhaṃ nāma guhyaṃ kṣetraṃ paraṃ mama || dhārāḥ pañcamukhās tatra patanti girisaṃśritāḥ ||
वहाँ एक छुपा हुआ जगह है जिसे देवप्रभ कहते हैं। वो मेरी सबसे बड़ी जगह है। पहाड़ से पाँच धारें गिर रही हैं।
Varāha (default, instructional voice)
Instructional revelation of a guhyakṣetra (secret tīrtha) on/for Earth; mapping sacred hydrology onto Bhūmi.
The ‘five mouths’ of the streams can be read as pañcapravāha/pañcaprāṇa or pañcabhūta-flow sustaining Bhūmi; Varāha as revealer of hidden tīrthas mirrors the Lord as inner controller (antaryāmin) of Earth’s waters.
Pañcamukhā dhārāḥ as five sacrificial ‘outflows’ (havis-pravāha) from the mountain-yajña; the mountain as stable altar (vedi) from which purifying currents descend.
Tīrtha as external upāya for inner śuddhi: the hidden kṣetra signifies the guhyatama ātma-jñāna approached through śraddhā and śaucācāra.
Nature (jala-giri) as a theophany: hidden places on Earth carry concentrated merit when approached with reverence.
Approach tīrthas with śraddhā, observe cleanliness and restraint, and treat water sources as sacred (non-pollution, protection of springs).
Varāha Purāṇa 145.64–67 (bathing/staying fruits at related guhyakṣetras)
FAQs
It records a toponym (Devaprabha) and a distinctive hydrological description, contributing to the textual mapping of sacred landscapes.
A place named “Devaprabha” is identified; modern correlation is uncertain without additional contextual markers.
By presenting water systems as defining features of heritage sites, the passage implicitly encourages respectful, conservation-minded engagement with such environments.
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