Varaha Purana 155.4: Adhyaya 155, Shloka 4
The Efficacy and Sacred Merit of Akrūra Tīrtha
Uttara Bhāga · Tīrtha-māhātmya (Site Naming and Eclipse Bathing)
अक्रूरेति च विख्यातं मम क्षेत्रं वसुन्धरे ॥ तत्र स्नात्वा महाभागे राहुग्रस्ते दिवाकरे ॥
akrūreti ca vikhyātaṃ mama kṣetraṃ vasundhare || tatra snātvā mahābhāge rāhugraste divākare ||
akrUreti cha vikhyAtaM mama kShetraM vasundhare || tatra snAtvA mahAbhAge rAhugraste divAkare
मेरा क्षेत्र अक्रूर नाम से जाना जाता है। सूर्य ग्रहण के वक्त वहाँ नहा दो। बहुत अच्छा फल मिलता है।
Sandhi Notes
- अक्रूरेति = अक्रूर + इति
- राहुग्रस्ते = राहु + ग्रस्ते (तत्पुरुष)
Varāha
Attentive and honored (addressed as mahābhāgā)
Which specific sacred precinct in the region is especially potent, and what is the merit-bearing time (solar eclipse) for bathing there?
Kṣetra (place) gains intensified efficacy when approached at kāla-viśeṣa (eclipse), converting a cosmic event into a dharmic opportunity.
During a solar eclipse, undertake snāna/japa/dāna at Ākrūra-tīrtha with restraint and devotion rather than fear or distraction.
Varāha addresses Earth directly (vasundhare/mahābhāge), identifying ‘Ākrūra’ as his own kṣetra and prescribing eclipse-time bathing there.
Eclipse-time is treated as a liminal cosmic interval where ordinary light is ‘covered’; bathing at Varāha’s kṣetra reasserts dharma and cosmic order—an echo of Varāha restoring the world from obscuration.
Implicit: ‘Rāhu’s seizure’ = cosmic covering; tīrtha-snāna = ritual re-emergence/purification akin to restoring light/order.
Light/obscuration as a metaphor for jñāna/avidyā: grahaṇa-kāla becomes a contemplative trigger for cleansing and reorientation to Viṣṇu.
Perform snāna at Ākrūra-kṣetra specifically during a solar eclipse (rāhu-grasta divākara) for heightened merit/purification.
Following: intensified pāpa-kṣaya and mahā-phala due to grahaṇa-kāla; breaking/ignoring: forfeiture of rare grahaṇa-kāla tīrtha-phala.
Exceptional tīrtha-phala (expanded in the following verse as yajña-equivalent merit).
Strong foreshadowing: Ākrūra is a key figure in Kṛṣṇa-līlā (messenger who brings Kṛṣṇa to Mathurā); the tīrtha name anchors later Vaiṣṇava memory in the landscape.
Adhyāya 155 continuation describing Ākrūra-tīrtha’s phala and ancient episode (155.5–155.6)
FAQs
It documents the integration of astronomical events (eclipses) into pilgrimage practice, reflecting how ritual calendars interacted with observational sky phenomena in premodern culture.
Ākrūra-kṣetra (Ākrūra-tīrtha), within the Yamunā–Mathurā region.
It encourages timed observance and disciplined practice, using significant natural events to structure communal and personal purification rites.
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