Varaha Purana 175.20: Adhyaya 175, Shloka 20
The Sanctity of the Kṛṣṇagaṅgā Pilgrimage-Ford and the Account of the Brahmin Vasu’s Daughter
Uttara Bhāga · Tīrtha–Māhātmya and Courtly/Social Narrative (Devagartteśvara–Śiva; Kānyakubja episode)
यं यं पश्यति चार्वङ्गी यस्तां चैव प्रपश्यति ॥ स स चित्र इव न्यस्तो विचेता जायते नरः ॥
yaṃ yaṃ paśyati cārvāṅgī yas tāṃ caiva prapaśyati | sa sa citra iva nyasto vicetā jāyate naraḥ ||
yaM yaM pashyati chArva~NgI yastAM chaiva prapashyati || sa sa chitra iva nyasto vichetA jAyate naraH
जिस आदमी को वो देखती थी और जो आदमी उसे देखता था, वो इंसान एक पेंटिंग की तरह हो जाता था। उसका दिमाग चला जाता था, खुद को संभाल नहीं पाता था।
Sandhi Notes
- चार्वङ्गी = च अर्व-अङ्गी
- यस्तां = यः ताम्
- चैव = च एव
Varāha
The gaze (dṛṣṭi) is portrayed as a force that arrests agency—beauty becomes a binding power that stills the mind and body.
Treat as a literary depiction of moha: cultivate discernment (viveka) when confronted with sensory captivation; in narrative terms, it foreshadows social consequences around desire and reputation.
Varāha Purāṇa 175.21.0 (her extraordinary beauty); Varāha Purāṇa 175.23.0 (her tīrtha practice and social encounter)
FAQs
It illustrates a common Sanskrit literary trope: the arresting power of beauty described through simile (becoming ‘like a painting’), relevant to the history of kāvya-style expression within Purāṇic prose-verse narrative.
No location is specified; the focus is on interpersonal encounter and literary effect.
No explicit moral directive is given; the verse functions as narrative-poetic description.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
