Varaha Purana 28.42: Adhyaya 28, Shloka 42
The Manifestation of Māyā as Durgā/Kātyāyanī and the Slaying of Vaitrāsura
एवमुक्त्वा ततो ब्रह्मा सर्वे देवाश्च पार्थिव । यथागतं ततो जग्मुर्देवीं स्थाप्य हि मे गिरौ । संस्थाप्य नन्दिता यस्मात् तस्मान्नन्दाऽभवत् तु सा ॥ २८.४२ ॥
evam uktvā tato brahmā sarve devāś ca pārthiva | yathāgataṃ tato jagmur devīṃ sthāpya hi me girau | saṃsthāpya nanditā yasmāt tasmān nandā 'bhavat tu sā || 28.42 ||
यह सब कह के ब्रह्मा और सारे देव वापस चले गए। जैसे आए थे वैसे ही गए। देवी को इस पहाड़ पर बिठा के गए। जब उन्होंने उसे बिठाया तो वो खुश हुई। इसलिए उसका नाम नन्दा पड़ गया।
Varāha (default dialogue frame; speaker not explicit in the verse fragment)
FAQs
It illustrates a common Purāṇic literary feature: etiological naming (name-origin) tied to sacred geography, linking divine presence with a specific Himalayan locale and reinforcing the cultural memory of pilgrimage landscapes.
The verse specifies “my mountain” (me girau) in the Himalayan range; it does not name a single peak or shrine here, but situates the Devī’s installation broadly within the Himālaya sacred geography.
Rather than a direct moral injunction, the verse conveys a cultural-philosophical principle: places become heritage sites through acts of consecration and sustained remembrance, and names preserve the record of such events.
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.
