Varaha Purana 187.11: Adhyaya 187, Shloka 11
Determination of the Origin and Procedure of the Ancestral Offering
Pitṛyajña/Śrāddha
Uttara Bhāga · Pralaya–Sṛṣṭi Narrative (Cosmology; Viṣṇu as Varāha)
धारितं मम सुश्रॊणि दिवा पञ्चशतानि च ॥ वाराहं रूपमादाय न जानासि हि भामिनि ॥
dhāritaṃ mama suśroṇi divā pañcaśatāni ca || vārāhaṃ rūpam ādāya na jānāsi hi bhāmini ||
dhAritaM mama sushroNi divA paMchashatAni cha || vArAhaM rUpamAdAya na jAnAsi hi bhAmini
सुनो, पाँच सौ दिन से मैं यह बोझ उठा रहा हूँ। मैंने सुअर का रूप लिया है, वराह बन गया हूँ। पर तुम मुझे पहचाना नहीं, तुम्हे पता भी नहीं मैं कौन हूँ।
Sandhi Notes
- रूपमादाय = रूपम् + आदाय
- ईत्यादि।
Varāha
Burdened then confused/astonished
Who is the bearer and rescuer behind the Varāha form, and why is the divine concealed even in direct deliverance?
Divine help can be immediate yet unrecognized; form (rūpa) may veil essence, and gratitude/knowledge requires discernment.
Train perception through devotion and reflection to recognize the divine in protective events; respond with humility and dharmic alignment rather than mere relief.
Assumed the Varāha (boar) form (vārahaṃ rūpam ādāya).
He states he has ‘borne’ (dhāritam) the burden for five hundred days—implying sustaining/lifting Earth during crisis—while addressing her directly and correcting her non-recognition.
Varāha as the divine support who ‘bears’ the world: the boar-form is both a concrete avatāra and a symbol of the Lord’s hidden sustaining power that may remain unrecognized due to māyā.
Bearing the burden evokes Yajña-Varāha: the Lord as the sacrificial foundation upholding the worlds; the ‘days’ measure suggests cosmic ritual-time sustaining dharma through pralaya intervals.
Recognition (pratyabhijñā) of īśvara behind forms is obstructed by avidyā; avatāra is a compassionate self-disclosure, yet perception depends on preparedness (adhikāra) and grace.
Varāha Purāṇa 187 (Varāha manifestation and Bhū-devī dialogue around recognition)
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic narrative strategy in which a deity identifies themself through an avatar-form (here, Varāha), a motif widely used to frame cosmology and restoration themes.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; the setting is mythic-cosmological rather than topographical.
The verse foregrounds recognition of identity beyond appearances—an epistemic theme often used to introduce broader cosmological instruction.
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