Varaha Purana 23.10: Adhyaya 23, Shloka 10
The Birth of Gaṇapati, the Emergence of the Vināyakas, and the Significance of the Fourth Lunar Day
पृथिव्या विद्यते मूर्तिरपां मूर्तिस्तथैव च । तेजसः श्वसनस्यापि मूर्तिरेषा तु दृश्यते । आकाशं च कथं नेति मत्वा देवो जहास च ॥ २३.१० ॥
pṛthivyā vidyate mūrtir apāṃ mūrtis tathaiva ca | tejasaḥ śvasanasyāpi mūrtir eṣā tu dṛśyate | ākāśaṃ ca kathaṃ neti matvā devo jahāsa ca || 23.10 ||
धरती का रूप है, पानी का भी रूप है। आग और हवा का भी रूप दिखता है। लेकिन आसमान का रूप कैसे हो सकता है? यह सोच के भगवान हस दिए।
Varāha (narrative voice implied; reaction of the deity)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic and broader Sanskrit intellectual motif: the pañca-mahābhūta framework (earth, water, fire, wind, space) and the problem of describing ākāśa (space/ether) as perceptible or ‘form-bearing,’ illustrating how narrative dialogue conveys cosmological and philosophical reasoning.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; the focus is elemental cosmology rather than sacred geography.
Rather than a direct moral injunction, the verse conveys a philosophical instruction: to distinguish between elements that are readily perceived as having form and the more conceptually subtle element ākāśa, encouraging careful inquiry into perception, embodiment (mūrti), and the limits of ordinary observation.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
