Varaha Purana 193.35: Adhyaya 193, Shloka 35
Naciketas’ Journey to Yama’s Abode and the Eulogy of Truthfulness
Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-śāstric Ethics (Satya and Boundaries / Mantra Efficacy)
उदधिर्ल्लङ्घयेन्नैव मर्यादां सत्यपालितः ॥ मन्त्रः प्रयुक्तः सत्येन सर्वलोकहितायते
udadhiḥ llaṅghayen naiva maryādāṃ satyapālitaḥ || mantraḥ prayuktaḥ satyena sarvalokahitāyate
udadhirlla~Nghayennaiva maryAdAM satyapAlitaH || mantraH prayuktaH satyena sarvalokahitAyate
समुंदर अपनी हदर पार नहीं जाता जब तक सच उसको रोक के रखता है। जो मंत्र सच से बोला जाए, वो सबकी भलाई करता है।
Sandhi Notes
- उदधिर्ल्लङ्घयेत् = उदधिः + लङ्घयेत् (विसर्ग-सन्धि: ः + ल → र् + ल; लेखने ‘र्ल्ल’)
- लङ्घयेन्नैव = लङ्घयेत् + न + एव (त् + न → न्न)
Varāha
Curious, seeking how order and ritual efficacy arise
What keeps the ocean within bounds, and what makes mantra truly effective and beneficial?
Truth is the condition that stabilizes both nature’s limits and mantra’s beneficence.
Maintain truthfulness and integrity when reciting/using mantras; cultivate restraint so power serves loka-hita rather than ego.
Varāha teaches Bhū that satya preserves maryādā (boundaries) in nature and empowers mantra for universal welfare.
Maryādā (limit) mirrors dharma’s function: to contain and channel power; satya is the ‘seal’ that keeps both oceans and mantras within auspicious efficacy.
Mantra efficacy tied to satya recalls yajña where correct speech (śabda) and truth-intent (bhāva) ‘bind’ results; ocean-boundary parallels ritual boundary (vedi/maryādā) that contains sacred fire.
Speech (vāk) becomes potent when aligned with truth; ethical alignment is treated as the condition for śabda to participate in cosmic order (īśvara-śāsana).
Truthfulness safeguards boundaries (maryādā) and is a prerequisite for mantra to yield loka-hita (welfare).
With satya, one’s ritual speech gains efficacy and benefits others; without satya, boundaries fail—social trust erodes and mantra becomes fruitless or harmful.
Varāha Purāṇa 193.37 (elements operate by satya); Varāha Purāṇa 193.39 (yajña and Veda grounded in satya)
FAQs
It combines moral discourse with natural imagery (ocean boundaries) and ritual discourse (mantra), illustrating how Purāṇas integrate ethics, cosmology, and ritual efficacy into a single didactic frame.
No specific ocean or coastal region is named; the ocean (udadhi) functions as a generalized cosmological image.
Truth is presented as a stabilizing force for order (boundaries) and as a prerequisite for beneficial ritual speech.
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