Varaha Purana 170.1: Adhyaya 170, Shloka 1
The Birth of Gokarṇa and the Fruits of Śiva Worship
including the Śukodara Parrot Episode and Hospitality Ethics
Pūrva Bhāga · Mathurā Narratives (Gokarṇa Episode: Lineage and Setting)
श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ पुनरन्यत् प्रवक्ष्यामि तच्छृणुष्व वसुन्धरे ॥ मथुरायां पुरा वृत्तं गोकर्णस्य महात्मनः ॥ वसुकर्णः पिता तस्य वैश्यो धनसमृद्धिमान्
śrīvarāha uvāca || punar anyat pravakṣyāmi tac chṛṇuṣva vasundhare || mathurāyāṁ purā vṛttaṁ gokarṇasya mahātmanaḥ || vasukarṇaḥ pitā tasya vaiśyo dhanasamṛddhimān
shrIvarAha uvAcha || punaranyat pravakShyAmi tachChRRiNuShva vasundhare || mathurAyAM purA vRRittaM gokarNasya mahAtmanaH|| vasukarNaH pitA tasya vaishyo dhanasamRRiddhimAn
श्री वराह ने कहा, अब एक और बात सुनाओ। सुन वसुंधरा। पुराने टाइम मथुरा में गोकर्ण नाम का एक बड़ा आदमी था। उसका बाप वसुकर्ण था, एक वैश्य जो धन से भरा था।
Sandhi Notes
- पुनरन्यत् = पुनः + अन्यत् (visarga sandhi: ः + अ → र)
- तच्छृणुष्व = तत् + शृणुष्व (t + ś)
Varāha
Curious
Implicit: What further account (punar anyat) about Mathurā’s sacred history and exemplary persons will explain dharma/merit there?
Sacred geography is taught via exemplary lives (genealogy + character) to transmit dharma and tīrtha-mahattva.
Approach tīrtha traditions by listening (śravaṇa) with receptivity; treat local histories as vehicles for ethical and devotional formation.
Addressing Earth directly as Vasundharā; initiating a new kathā within the Varāha–Bhū dialogue frame.
Indirect foreshadowing: Mathurā as future Kṛṣṇa-janma-bhūmi; the narrative sanctifies the region that later becomes central to Kṛṣṇa-līlā.
Varāha Purāṇa: Mathurā-māhātmya sections that proceed by 'śrīvarāha uvāca' framing and episodic kathās
FAQs
It introduces a localized narrative set in Mathurā and records social descriptors (e.g., ‘Vaiśya’, wealth prosperity) that are useful for cultural-historical reading of Purāṇic storytelling.
Mathurā, a major North Indian heritage city with extensive Purāṇic and epic associations.
The passage primarily functions as narrative framing; ethically, it models attentive listening (śravaṇa) as the entry point to learning from exemplary accounts.
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