Varaha Purana 193.7: Adhyaya 193, Shloka 7

Naciketas’ Journey to Yama’s Abode and the Eulogy of Truthfulness

Devanagari script

एतदिच्छाम्यहं श्रोतुं कीदृशं तु यमालयम् ॥ किं प्रमाणं च किं रूपं कथं गत्वा स पश्यति ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 193.7

Transliteration

etad icchāmy ahaṃ śrotuṃ kīdṛśaṃ tu yamālayam || kiṃ pramāṇaṃ ca kiṃ rūpaṃ kathaṃ gatvā sa paśyati

Translation

मैं यह सुनना चाहता हूं कि यमराज का घर कैसा है? वो कितना बड़ा है, कैसा दिखता है? वहां जाके कैसे देख सकते हैं लोग?

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Word by Word

• etat: this

• icchāmi: I wish

• aham: I

• śrotum: to hear

• kīdṛśam: of what kind

• tu: indeed

• yamālayam: Yama’s abode

• kim: what

• pramāṇam: measure, extent

• ca: and

• kim: what

• rūpam: form

• katham: how

• gatvā: having gone

• saḥ: he/one

• paśyati: sees, perceives

Speaker

Janamejaya

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Afterlife Imagery
• Purāṇic Cosmography

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

The verse exemplifies Purāṇic cosmography: the inquirer requests systematic details (measure, form, perception), reflecting an encyclopedic impulse in late Sanskrit narrative traditions.

Which geographic location is identified?

“Yamālaya” is a cosmological location (Yama’s abode) rather than a terrestrial site; it belongs to the text’s moral-cosmological geography.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

By asking about Yama’s domain, the text frames ethics through consequence: moral action is linked to post-mortem adjudication imagery.