Varaha Purana 35.7: Adhyaya 35, Shloka 7
The Account of Soma’s Decline and Restoration, and the Paurṇamāsī Observance
Pūrva Bhāga · Ecological Narratives (oṣadhi-kṣaya / depletion of medicinal plants)
क्षीणाभवंस्तदा सर्वा ओषध्यश्च विशेषतः । क्षयं गच्छद्भिरत्यर्थमोषधीभिः सुरर्षभाः ॥ ३५.७ ॥
kṣīṇābhavaṃstadā sarvā oṣadhyaśca viśeṣataḥ | kṣayaṃ gacchadbhiratyarthamoṣadhībhiḥ surarṣabhāḥ || 35.7 ||
kShINAbhavaMstadA sarvA oShadhyashcha visheShataH | kShayaM gachChadbhiratyarthamoShadhIbhiH surarShabhAH || 35.7 ||
तब सारी जड़ी-बूटियाँ कमज़ोर हो गई, खास कर दवाई वाली जड़ियाँ। जब जड़ी-बूटियाँ इतनी खराब हो रही थी, तो देवताओं के लिए बड़ा मुश्किल टाइम आ गया।
Sandhi Notes
- क्षीणाभवंस्तदा = क्षीणाः + अभवन् + तदा
- ओषध्यश्च = ओषध्यः + च
- गच्छद्भिरत्यर्थम् = गच्छद्भिः + अत्यर्थम्
- सुरर्षभाः = सुर-ऋषभाः (समास)
Varāha
Burdened
Plants—especially medicinal herbs—are not inert resources but soma-infused supports of life; their decline signals moral/cosmic imbalance.
Protect and revere medicinal biodiversity; align human conduct with sustaining rhythms (seasonal, lunar, ritual) that preserve life-support systems.
Medicinal herbs (oṣadhi) are singled out as carriers of Soma-rasa; their depletion indicates loss of healing potency in the world—cosmic disorder manifests as disease and diminished resilience.
Implicit: oṣadhi as soma-bearing vessels; when Soma retreats/wanes, the ‘pharmacy of the earth’ empties, threatening yajña and life-support.
The guṇa-bound world’s sustaining capacities (including healing) depend on higher-order harmony; when harmony breaks, duḥkha proliferates, prompting śaraṇāgati (refuge-seeking).
Varāha Purāṇa 35.35.6 (universal ruin); Varāha Purāṇa 35.35.8 (Soma in roots; refuge in Viṣṇu)
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic motif in which ecological imbalance is described through the depletion of oṣadhis (medicinal plants), reflecting early South Asian literary attention to environmental fragility and resource decline.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; it presents a generalized ecological condition rather than a place-specific tīrtha or region.
The verse foregrounds the consequences of unchecked decline of natural resources (especially medicinal flora), implicitly supporting an ethic of environmental stewardship and restraint.
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