Varaha Purana 197.26: Adhyaya 197, Shloka 26
The Division of the Gates of Yama’s City and the Description of the Tribunal Hall
Uttara Bhāga · Kāla as an ever-attentive agent instructed by Dharma-rāja
शिक्षार्थे धर्मराजेन सन्दिष्टः स पुनः पुनः ॥ शृणोति चैव कालोऽसौ नित्ययुक्तः सनातनः ॥
śikṣārthe dharmarājena sandiṣṭaḥ sa punaḥ punaḥ | śṛṇoti caiva kālo'sau nityayuktaḥ sanātanaḥ ||
shikShArthe dharmarAjena sandiShTaH sa punaH punaH || shRRiNoti chaiva kAlo.asau nityayuktaH sanAtanaH
धरमराज ने उसे बार-बार समझाया कि कंट्रोल में रहो। यह काल है जो सुनता है। वो हमेशा काम में लगा रहता है और कभी खत्म नहीं होता।
Sandhi Notes
- कालोऽसौ → कालः + असौ
- चैव → च + एव।
Varāha
Curious, attentive (implied listener within Varāha–Bhū dialogue frame)
How does Kāla (Time) operate under Dharma-rāja’s discipline, and what does ‘eternal time’ mean in ethical-cosmic order?
Time is not random; it is yoked to Dharma, ensuring karmic order.
Cultivate dharmic conduct and patience: outcomes unfold through time’s lawful rhythm rather than impulse.
Kāla ‘listening’ to Dharma-rāja frames time as an instrument of ṛta/dharma rather than an autonomous destroyer—karma ripens through regulated temporality.
Implicit yajña-order: time as the metronome of sacrifice and karmic maturation under dharma.
Time (kāla) functions within māyā/guṇa-order; dharma as the intelligible law governing saṃsāra, while the eternal (sanātana) points to the unbroken continuity of causal order.
Even Kāla is portrayed as repeatedly ‘instructed’ by Dharma-rāja—implying governance/discipline (śāsana) as the principle that orders action and consequence.
Alignment with Dharma’s ‘śāsana’ yields orderly fruition of karma; defiance results in inevitable correction through time-bound consequences.
Varāha Purāṇa 197 (surrounding śāsana/kāla discussion)
FAQs
It shows a Purāṇic tendency to personify abstract principles (Time/Kāla) within administrative-ethical cosmologies, relevant to intellectual history of Sanskrit metaphysics.
No location is stated; the verse concerns a cosmological functionary (Kāla) under Dharma-rāja’s instruction.
Discipline (śikṣā) and attentive responsiveness to dharma-centered instruction are foregrounded as organizing principles.
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