Varaha Purana 195.24: Adhyaya 195, Shloka 24

Description of Sinners Abiding in Yama’s Realm

Catalog of Transgressions and the Logic of Retribution

Devanagari script

रौरवो वा कथं विप्र किंरूपं कूटशाल्मलेः॥ कीदृशा वा हि ते दूताः किं कार्याः किं पराक्रमाः॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 195.24

Transliteration

rauravo vā kathaṃ vipra kiṃrūpaṃ kūṭaśālmaleḥ || kīdṛśā vā hi te dūtāḥ kiṃ kāryāḥ kiṃ parākramāḥ

Translation

रौरव नाम का नरक कैसा है? कूटशाल्मली में क्या होता है? वहाँ के मैसेंजर्स कैसे होते हैं? वो क्या काम करते हैं और उनमें कितनी ताकत होती है?

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Word by Word

• rauravaḥ: Raurava (hell)
• rauravaḥ: Karta (कर्ता/topic)
• Type: Noun
• Root: raurava (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, एकवचन (नरकनाम)

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (or)

• katham: how
• katham: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: katham (अव्यय)
• Form: प्रश्नार्थक-अव्यय (interrogative adverb: how)

• vipra: O Brahmin
• vipra: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: vipra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन

• kim: what kind of
• kim: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/interrogative)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-विशेषण

• rūpam: form
• rūpam: Karma (कर्म/object of inquiry)
• Type: Noun
• Root: rūpa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन

• kūṭaśālmaleḥ: of Kūṭaśālmali (hell/tree)
• kūṭaśālmaleḥ: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: kūṭa + śālmali (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (kūṭasya śālmalī) नरक/वृक्षविशेष-नाम

• kīdṛśāḥ: of what sort
• kīdṛśāḥ: Karta (कर्ता—qualifier of dūtāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kīdṛśa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-विशेषण

• vā: or
• vā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: vā (अव्यय)
• Form: विकल्पार्थक-अव्यय (or)

• hi: indeed
• hi: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: hi (अव्यय)
• Form: निपात (emphasis)

• te: those
• te: Karta (कर्ता—qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; संकेतक-विशेषण (those)

• dūtāḥ: messengers
• dūtāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: dūta (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

• kim: what (kind)
• kim: Karta (कर्ता—qualifier of kāryāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-विशेषण

• kāryāḥ: having what tasks / what duties
• kāryāḥ: Karta (कर्ता—predicate/attribute)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kārya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; विशेषण (what are they to do/what duties)

• kim: what (kind)
• kim: Karta (कर्ता—qualifier of parākramāḥ)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: kim (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन; प्रश्नवाचक-विशेषण

• parākramāḥ: prowess / power
• parākramāḥ: Karta (कर्ता—predicate/attribute)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parākrama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा-विभक्ति, बहुवचन

Speaker

Pṛthivī (default inquirer role; explicit speaker not stated in fragment)

Tags

• Purāṇic Eschatology
• Naraka Topography
• Yama-dūta Motifs
• Sanskrit Onomastics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It documents named ‘nāraka’ topoi (Raurava, Kūṭaśālmalī) that recur across Purāṇic literature, useful for comparative cataloguing of eschatological geography.

Which geographic location is identified?

Raurava and Kūṭaśālmalī are cosmological/otherworldly locations within Purāṇic naraka topography.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse frames ethical accountability by asking about the mechanisms (messengers, tasks, power) through which consequences are administered.