Varaha Purana 196.2: Adhyaya 196, Shloka 2
Description of the City of Dharmarāja
Yama
नाचिकेत उवाच ॥ श्रूयतां द्विजशार्दूलाः कथ्यमानं मया द्विजाः ॥ योजनानां सहस्रं तु विस्ताराद्द्विगुणायतम् ॥
nāciketa uvāca || śrūyatāṁ dvijaśārdūlāḥ kathyamānaṁ mayā dvijāḥ || yojanānāṁ sahasraṁ tu vistārād dviguṇāyatam
नचिकेता ने कहा, सुनो ब्राह्मणों, मैं तुम्हे बताता हूँ। यह नगर कितनी बड़ी है? चौड़ाई में एक हज़ार योजन है। और लंबाई में इसका दुगना है।
Nāciketa
FAQs
It illustrates Purāṇic use of metrological language (yojana) to render cosmographic descriptions vivid and systematic.
The passage describes Dharmarāja’s (Yama’s) city as a mythic/otherworldly space rather than a historically mappable terrestrial location.
Indirectly, it prepares an imaginative setting for moral consequence narratives by describing the realm associated with judgment and order (dharma).
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