Varaha Purana 21.74: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 74
The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share
Pūrva Bhāga · Yajña-śānti and Deva-restoration narrative (Rudra’s settlement after Dakṣa-yajña)
रुद्र उवाच । भगस्य नेत्रं भवतु पूष्णो दन्तास्तथा मखः । दक्षस्याच्छिद्रतां यातु यज्ञश्चाप्यदितेः सुताः । पशुभावं तथा चापि अपनेष्यामि वो सुराः ॥ २१.७५ ॥
rudra uvāca | bhagasya netraṁ bhavatu pūṣṇo dantās tathā makhaḥ | dakṣasyācchidratāṁ yātu yajñaś cāpy aditeḥ sutāḥ | paśubhāvaṁ tathā cāpi apaneṣyāmi vo surāḥ || 21.75 ||
rudra uvAcha | bhagasya netraM bhavatu pUShNo dantAstathA makhaH | dakShasyAchChidratAM yAtu yaj~nashchApyaditeH sutAH | pashubhAvaM tathA chApi apaneShyAmi vo surAH || 21.75 ||
रुद्र बोले, भग की आँखें वापस आ जाएंगी। पूषन के दाँत वापस हो जाएंगे। मख के भी सब ठीक होगा। दक्ष का जो नुकसान हुआ है वो भी ठीक हो जाएगा। यज्ञ और अदिति के बेटे भी वापस आएंगे। और मैं तुम देवों को जानवर जैसी हालत से आज़ाद करूँगा।
Sandhi Notes
- रुद्र उवाच = रुद्रः उवाच
- दक्षस्याच्छिद्रतां = दक्षस्य अ-च्छिद्रताम्
- यज्ञश्चाप्यदितेः = यज्ञः च अपि अदितेः
- चापि = च अपि
Rudra
Even after catastrophic conflict, dharma is re-established through appeasement, restitution, and restoration of the yajña-system.
When harm is done in religious/social settings, prioritize restitution and reintegration over triumphalism; repair institutions and relationships to restore collective order.
A yajña-etiology layer: the integrity of sacrifice mirrors the integrity of the cosmos; when yajña is ruptured, devas become ‘paśu’ (mere offerings/instinct-bound), and when restored, they regain divine function—linking ritual wholeness to ontological status.
Explicit yajña-person references: ‘Makha’ and ‘Yajña’ as entities needing restoration; bodily parts (eye/teeth) stand for ritual faculties (vision/recitation/consumption of oblations).
Ritual order (ṛta/dharma) is upheld by īśvara; reconciliation restores functional harmony (loka-saṅgraha). The ‘body of yajña’ motif supports the idea of cosmos as a sacrificial organism.
After ritual conflict, the presiding power restores the injured participants of yajña (Bhaga’s eye, Pūṣan’s teeth, Dakṣa’s body, Yajña and Ādityas), removing deformity and social/ontic degradation to re-establish cosmic-ritual order.
Restoration and reintegration follow appeasement and right settlement; unresolved sacrificial violence yields mutilation, disorder, and degradation (symbolized as ‘paśu-bhāva’).
Varāha Purāṇa 21.21.75 (Rudra’s restorative decree)
FAQs
It belongs to the widely transmitted Dakṣa-yajña cycle, a Purāṇic narrative used to explain ritual disruption and subsequent restoration of cosmic and social order through negotiated settlement among divine agents.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse fragment; the content is narrative-ritual rather than a tīrtha (sacred geography) description.
The verse foregrounds restoration and reconciliation after conflict—repairing harm, re-establishing wholeness (acchidratā), and removing degrading conditions—rather than perpetuating punitive violence.
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