Varaha Purana 155.46: Adhyaya 155, Shloka 46

The Efficacy and Sacred Merit of Akrūra Tīrtha

Uttara Bhāga · Ethical Maxim: Dharma While Living; Textual Irregular Verse Numbering

Devanagari script

जीवतो धर्ममाहात्म्यं मृते धर्मः कुतो यशः ॥ पुरुषस्य वचः श्रुत्वा स वणिग्वाक्यमब्रवीत् ॥ (५१) ॥ तत्र सत्यं वदिष्यामि यास्ये राक्षससन्निधौ ॥ आगतोऽहं महाभाग नर्तयित्वा यथासुखम् ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 155.46

Transliteration

jīvato dharmamāhātmyaṃ mṛte dharmaḥ kuto yaśaḥ || puruṣasya vacaḥ śrutvā sa vaṇig vākyam abravīt || (51) || tatra satyaṃ vadiṣyāmi yāsye rākṣasasannidhau || āgato’haṃ mahābhāga nartayitvā yathāsukham ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

जब इंसान ज़ि�दा है, तभी धरम का मतलब समझ आता है। मरने के बाद धरम का क्या फायदा, कोई नाम भी नहीं रहता। उस आदमी की बात सुन के सौदागर ने कहा, मैं सच बताऊँगा। मैं उस राक्षस के पास जाऊँगा। मैं आ गया हूँ, बड़े आदमी, जैसे मन था वैसे नाच के।

Ask anything about this verse...Ask

Word by Word

• jīvataḥ: while living/of the living
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Ṣaṣṭhī (6th), Ekavacana; genitive absolute sense ‘of one living/while living’
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Root: jīvat (प्रातिपदिक)

• dharma-māhātmyam: the greatness of dharma
• Type: Noun
• Form: Tatpuruṣa compound; Napuṃsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana (here as predicate/nominal)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक) + māhātmya (प्रातिपदिक)

• mṛte: when dead/after death
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Kta-participle from √mṛ; Puṃliṅga/Napuṃsaka, Saptamī, Ekavacana; locative absolute ‘when dead/after death’
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: mṛta (प्रातिपदिक/कृदन्त)

• dharmaḥ: dharma
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: dharma (प्रातिपदिक)

• kutaḥ: whence/how (can there be)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya, interrogative adverb (प्रश्नवाचक)
• Role: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Root: kutaḥ (अव्यय)

• yaśaḥ: fame
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napuṃsaka, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: yaśas (प्रातिपदिक)

• puruṣasya: of the man
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Ṣaṣṭhī, Ekavacana
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Root: puruṣa (प्रातिपदिक)

• vacaḥ: words
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napuṃsaka, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: vacas (प्रातिपदिक)

• śrutvā: having heard
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Absolutive (क्त्वा-कृदन्त)
• Role: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Root: √śru (श्रु धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)

• saḥ: he
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• vaṇik: merchant
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; stem vaṇij, form vaṇik (final consonant alternation)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: vaṇij (प्रातिपदिक)

• vākyam: statement
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napuṃsaka, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: vākya (प्रातिपदिक)

• abravīt: said
• Type: Verb
• Form: Luṅ-lakāra (लुङ्, aorist), Prathama-puruṣa, Ekavacana, Parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: √brū (ब्रू धातु)

• tatra: there/in that matter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (देश/प्रसङ्गवाचक)
• Role: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Root: tatra (अव्यय)

• satyam: truth
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napuṃsaka, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; object of vadiṣyāmi
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: satya (प्रातिपदिक)

• vadiṣyāmi: I will speak
• Type: Verb
• Form: Luṭ-lakāra (लुट्, periphrastic future), Uttama-puruṣa (उत्तम), Ekavacana, Parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: √vad (वद् धातु)

• yāsye: I will go
• Type: Verb
• Form: Luṭ-lakāra (लुट्, periphrastic future), Uttama-puruṣa, Ekavacana, Parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: √yā (या धातु)

• rākṣasa-sannidhau: in the presence of the rākṣasa
• Type: Noun
• Form: Tatpuruṣa compound; Puṃliṅga, Saptamī, Ekavacana
• Role: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Root: rākṣasa (प्रातिपदिक) + sannidhi (प्रातिपदिक)

• āgataḥ: have come
• Type: Verb
• Form: Kta-participle used predicatively; Puṃliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; ‘have come’
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: ā-√gam (गम् धातु) + kta (क्त)

• aham: I
• Type: Noun
• Form: Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• mahābhāga: O fortunate one
• Type: Noun
• Form: Karmadhāraya compound; Puṃliṅga, Sambodhana, Ekavacana
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: mahā (प्रातिपदिक) + bhāga (प्रातिपदिक)

• nartayitvā: having danced / having made (them) dance
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Causative gerund (णिजन्त-क्त्वा), ‘having made (someone) dance / having danced (causatively)’
• Role: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकालक्रिया)
• Root: √nṛt (नृत् धातु) + ṇic (णिच् causative) + ktvā (क्त्वा)

• yathā-sukham: as one pleases/at ease
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyayībhāva compound; adverbial accusative sense
• Role: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Root: yathā (अव्यय) + sukha (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• dharmamāhātmyam = dharma-māhātmyam
• vṇigvākyamabravīt = vaṇik + vākyam + abravīt
• āgato’haṃ = āgataḥ + aham
• yathāsukham = yathā-sukham
• rākṣasasannidhau = rākṣasa-sannidhau

Speaker and setting

Vira and Shanta rasaSetting: Threshold / perilous locale

Speaker

Sudhana / the merchant

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

She worships

What she asks

Implicit: What is the value of dharma and reputation if one postpones truth and duty until after death?

The teaching

Path

Dharma Ethics

Subjects

EthicsTruth-tellingNarrative resolve

Core idea

Dharma is existential and time-bound: only embodied life allows choice, truth, and merit; post-mortem ‘dharma’ is not actionable.

In practice

Do not defer ethical duties; speak truth at the decisive moment and accept consequences without self-deception.

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Ethics
• Moral Philosophy
• Textual Criticism

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a compact ethical aphorism about practicing dharma in life, and it also shows a common manuscript phenomenon: embedded or shifted verse numbering (noted here as 51 within the 52-unit excerpt).

Which geographic location is identified?

No new place-name appears in this excerpt; it refers instead to approaching the rākṣasa’s presence (a narrative setting rather than a toponym).

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse prioritizes living ethical practice and truth-telling, presenting dharma as meaningful through deliberate action in life rather than as a post-mortem abstraction.