Varaha Purana 184.20: Adhyaya 184, Shloka 20

Installation of a Copper Icon (Tāmrārcā) and Its Consecratory Worship

Uttara Bhāga · Pratimā-pratiṣṭhā: Merit and lineage benefit

Devanagari script

तारितं च कुलं तेन नवभिः सप्तविंशतिः ॥ एतत्ते कथितं भद्रे ताम्रार्चास्थापनं मम ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 184.20

Transliteration

tāritaṃ ca kulaṃ tena navabhiḥ saptaviṃśatiḥ || etat te kathitaṃ bhadre tāmrārcā-sthāpanaṃ mama ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

इससे पूरे कुल का भला होता है। पिछले सौ से ज़्यादा पीढ़ी तक लोगों का भला होता है। मैंने तुम्हे कॉपर की मूर्ति स्थापना का पूरा बताया है।

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Word by Word

• तारितम्: saved/rescued
• Type: Adjective
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.); कर्मणि प्रयोगः (passive sense)
• Role: Pratipadya (प्रातिपद्य/Predicate)
• Root: तारित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √तॄ/तृ with causative)

• च: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)
• Role: Samuccaya (समुच्चय/Connector)
• Root: च (अव्यय)

• कुलम्: family/lineage
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.)
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Root: कुल (प्रातिपदिक)

• तेन: by him/thereby
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instr. 3), एकवचन (sg.)
• Role: Karana (करण/Instrument/Agent in passive)
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• नवभिः: by nine
• Type: Adjective
• Form: (त्रिलिङ्ग), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instr. 3), बहुवचन (pl.); संख्या-विशेषणम्
• Role: Visheshana (विशेषण/Numeral qualifier)
• Root: नवन् (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)

• सप्तविंशतिः: twenty-seven
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nom. 1), एकवचन (sg.); द्विगु-समासः: सप्त + विंशति (27)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता/Subject—number statement)
• Root: सप्तविंशति (संख्या-प्रातिपदिक)

• एतत्: this
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.)
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object—‘this’)
• Root: एतद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• ते: to you
• Type: Noun
• Form: चतुर्थी-विभक्ति (Dat. 4), एकवचन (sg.)
• Role: Sampradana (सम्प्रदान/Recipient)
• Root: युष्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• कथितम्: told/declared
• Type: Verb
• Form: क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.); ‘has been told’
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया/Predicate—passive)
• Root: कथित (कृदन्त-प्रातिपदिक; √कथ्)

• भद्रे: O auspicious lady
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (f.), सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Voc.), एकवचन (sg.)
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Root: भद्र (प्रातिपदिक)

• ताम्रार्चा-स्थापनम्: installation of the copper idol/image
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग (n.), प्रथमा/द्वितीया (Nom./Acc. 1/2), एकवचन (sg.); समासः: ताम्रायाः अर्चायाः स्थापनम् (installation of a copper image)
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object/apposition to ‘etat’)
• Root: ताम्र (प्रातिपदिक) + अर्चा (प्रातिपदिक) + स्थापन (प्रातिपदिक)

• मम: my/of me
• Type: Noun
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति (Gen. 6), एकवचन (sg.)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Genitive)
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• एतत् + ते → एतत्ते (त् + त → त्त). ताम्रार्चा-स्थापनम् treated as तत्पुरुष chain
• orthography shows hyphen in IAST

Speaker and setting

Adbhuta and Shanta rasaSetting: Temple icon sanctum

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Relieved and assured about the rite’s potency

What she asks

What is the scale of benefit produced by installing Varāha’s image, especially regarding ancestors/descendants?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Merit and memory (pitṛ/vaṃśa continuity)

Subjects

Ritual StudiesEthicsLineage and Memory

Core idea

Dharmic acts can radiate beyond the individual, shaping ancestral and descendant welfare through saṃskāra and devotion.

In practice

Undertake enduring acts of worship (icon installation, temple support) with intention for family uplift and communal good.

The Varaha avatara

With the Earth

Varāha addresses Bhū-devī (‘bhadre’) and declares transgenerational merit from installing his copper image

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Purāṇic Literature
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Merit Doctrine
• Iconography

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It illustrates how Purāṇic ritual discourse links public acts (icon installation) with intergenerational memory and merit, shaping patronage patterns.

Which geographic location is identified?

No location is named; the verse concerns the general rite of installing a copper icon.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The text frames ritual patronage as socially expansive—benefits are imagined to extend beyond the individual to the wider lineage.