Varaha Purana 198.9: Adhyaya 198, Shloka 9
Description of the Torments within the Cycle of Rebirth: Hymn to Yama and the Introduction to Citragupta’s Administration
Uttara Bhāga · Śrāddha–Yama-stotra (ritual ethics and ancestral rites)
ऋषिपुत्र उवाच ॥ त्वं धाता च विधाता च श्राद्धे चैव हि दृश्यसे ॥ पितॄणां परमो देवश्चतुष्पाद नमोऽस्तु ते ॥
ṛṣi-putra uvāca | tvaṃ dhātā ca vidhātā ca śrāddhe caiva hi dṛśyase | pitṝṇāṃ paramo devaś catuṣpāda namo 'stu te ||
RRiShiputra uvAcha || tvaM dhAtA cha vidhAtA cha shrAddhe chaiva hi dRRishyase || pitRRINAM paramo devashchatuShpAda namo.astu te
रिशि के बेटे ने कहा, तुम ही दुनिया चलाते हो और सब कुछ ठीक करके रखते हो। श्राद्ध में भी तुम्हे देखते हैं। पितरों के सबसे बड़े देवता, चार पाँव वाले, तुम्हे प्रणाम।
Sandhi Notes
- ṛṣi-putra (compound)
- caiva = ca + eva
- devaś catuṣpād = devaḥ + catuṣpāt (visarga sandhi: ḥ + c -> ś c)
- namo 'stu = namaḥ + astu (visarga sandhi before vowel)
Ṛṣiputra
The supreme sustainer/ordainer is present in śrāddha; honoring pitṛs is simultaneously honoring the divine ground of order.
Perform śrāddha with awareness (bhāva) that the rite is divine service; cultivate gratitude to lineage while keeping dharma.
Catuṣpād (four-footed) addressed in the hymn
The ‘four-footed’ epithet links the addressed deity to a zoomorphic/animal-form divinity while asserting dhātṛ/vidhātṛ functions—suggesting the same supreme reality can appear in non-anthropomorphic forms and still preside over yajña/śrāddha.
Implicit: the deity ‘seen in śrāddha’ aligns with yajña-presence.
Non-dual/theistic synthesis: the one īśvara is dhātā-vidhātā and also immanent in ritual acts; form (ākāra) does not limit supremacy.
In śrāddha, recognize and worship the supreme principle presiding over pitṛs; the rite is a theophany of the sustaining/ordaining power.
Such recognition and homage strengthens śrāddha’s efficacy and pitṛ-satisfaction; failure implies diminished pitṛ-prīti and weaker ritual fruit.
Varāha Purāṇa 198.8 (Yama pleased by stotra); Varāha Purāṇa 198.11–12 (further epithets of the addressed deity)
FAQs
It explicitly links Yama (or the addressed deity) to śrāddha performance, offering evidence for how Purāṇic texts integrate ritual practice with cosmological administration (dhātā/vidhātā).
No geographic location is identified in this verse.
The verse frames ancestral rites as a domain where cosmic order is acknowledged through respectful address and ritual recognition.
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