Varaha Purana 21.52: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 52
The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share
Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-uddhāra and Divine Conflict Narrative (Weapon-Combat Episode)
नारायणं पाशुपतमुभेऽस्त्रे व्योम्नि रोषिते । युयुधाते भृशं दिव्यं परस्परजिघांसया । दिव्यं वर्षसहस्रं तु तयोर्युद्धमभूत् तदा ॥ २१.५३ ॥
nārāyaṇaṃ pāśupatam ubhe ’stre vyomni roṣite | yuyudhāte bhṛśaṃ divyaṃ parasparajighāṃsayā | divyaṃ varṣasahasraṃ tu tayor yuddham abhūt tadā || 21.53 ||
nArAyaNaM pAshupatamubhe.astre vyomni roShite | yuyudhAte bhRRishaM divyaM parasparajighAMsayA | divyaM varShasahastraM tu tayoryuddhamabhUt tadA || 21.53 ||
आसमान में नारायण और पाशुपत दोनों अस्त्र लड़ने लगे। दोनों एक दूसरे को खत्म करना चाहते थे। बहुत तेज़ लड़ाई हुई। यह युद्ध हज़ारों साल तक चलता रहा।
Sandhi Notes
- ubhe ’stre = ubhe astre (avagraha indicates a- elision)
- tayor yuddham = tayoḥ + yuddham (visarga sandhi)
Varāha
Unchecked power persists across vast time; true mastery is the capacity to withdraw/contain śakti, not merely to project it.
In leadership and sādhanā, cultivate ‘saṃyama’: do not unleash forces (speech, punishment, vows) without a clear path to pacification.
The ‘wrath’ of astras personifies divine law (śakti) operating autonomously; the thousand divine years signals that cosmic forces, once unleashed, follow their own dharma until reabsorbed by higher will.
Astra-tejas as yajña-agni in the sky; mutual ‘jighāṃsā’ mirrors competing ritual fires needing a presiding adhvaryu (supreme regulator) to conclude the rite.
Śakti as māyā/īśvara-vibhūti: powers appear dual and conflictual, yet remain within one cosmic order; time dilation (divya-varṣa) underscores kāla as īśvara’s instrument.
21.21.52 (deities deploy astras); 21.21.54-56 (iconographic differentiation of the two)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic narrative technique: dramatizing theological concepts through personified divine weapons and situating events within “divine time,” a literary device used to convey cosmic scale rather than ordinary chronology.
No specific terrestrial location is named in this verse; the setting is “vyoman” (the sky), indicating a celestial arena rather than a mapped pilgrimage geography.
The verse does not present a direct ethical injunction; instead, it foregrounds the theme of uncontrolled wrath and mutual destructiveness, which later Purāṇic contexts often resolve through restraint, pacification, or higher-order cosmic balance.
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