Varaha Purana 21.23: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 23
The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share
Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-uddhāra / Cosmological-ecological narrative frame
दशवर्षसहस्राणि तपश्चीर्त्वा महज्जले । प्रतिबुद्धो यदा रुद्रस्तदा चोर्वीं सकाननाम् । दृष्ट्वा सस्यवतीं रम्यां मनुष्यपशुसंकुलाम् ॥ २१.२४ ॥
daśavarṣasahasrāṇi tapaś cīrtvā mahajjale | pratibuddho yadā rudras tadā corvīṁ sakānanām | dṛṣṭvā sasyavatīṁ ramyāṁ manuṣyapaśusaṅkulām || 21.24 ||
dashavarShasahastrANi tapashchIrtvA mahajjale | pratibuddho yadA rudrastadA chorvoM sakAnanAm | dRRiShTvA sasyavatIM ramyAM manuShyapashusaMkulAm || 21.24 ||
रुद्र ने दस हज़ार साल तक पानी में तपस्या की। जब वो जागा, तो धरती देखी। जंगल थे, फसलें थी, और लोग और जानवर भी थे।
Sandhi Notes
- तपश्चीर्त्वा = तपः + चीरित्वा (ः + च → श्च)
- महज्जले = महत् + जले (त् + ज → ज्ज)
- रुद्रस्तदा = रुद्रः + तदा (ः + त → स्त)
- चोर्वीम् = च + उर्वीम् (अ + उ → ओ)
Varāha
Observant; the Earth is described as fertile and inhabited (implicitly ‘seen’ as a living sacred field)
What did Rudra perceive upon awakening from long tapas, and what was the condition of the Earth then?
Long tapas in the undifferentiated waters precedes awakened perception of a differentiated, life-filled world.
Sustained discipline (tapas) clarifies vision: one ‘awakens’ to the world’s interdependence—humans, animals, forests, and food systems.
Varāha Purāṇa 21.21.25–26 (hearing yajña-sounds; anger response)
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic narrative style that links cosmic time (long austerities in primordial waters) with the reappearance of an inhabited, cultivated earth, offering a literary witness to early South Asian ideas of world-renewal and environmental abundance.
No specific toponym is named; the verse describes the earth (urvī) in general, characterized by forests and cultivation rather than a single identifiable site.
Implicitly, the verse values a world where forests, agriculture, humans, and animals coexist—supporting an ecological reading that emphasizes stewardship of a fertile, inhabited landscape.
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