Varaha Purana 37.4: Adhyaya 37, Shloka 4
The Threefold Discipline (Mental, Physical, Verbal) and the Salvific Power of Hearing Nārāyaṇa’s Name
Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-śāstric Ethics (Vratāni / Mental Disciplines)
अहिंसा सत्यमस्तेयं ब्रह्मचर्यमकल्कता । एतानि मानस्यानाहुर्व्रतानि तु धराधरे ॥ ३७.४ ॥
ahiṁsā satyam asteyaṁ brahmacaryam akalkatā | etāni mānasāny āhur vratāni tu dharādhare || 37.4 ||
ahiMsA satyamasteyaM brahmacharyamakalkatA | etAni mAnasAnyAhurvratAni tu dharAdhare || 37.4 ||
धरा को धरने वाले, सुनो, मन के व्रत यह हैं। किसी को दुखा मत देना, सच बोलो, चोरी मत करो, अपने आप को कंट्रोल में रखो, और मन को साफ रखो। यह पाँच चीज़ें मन के व्रत कहलाती हैं।
Sandhi Notes
- सत्यमस्तेयं = सत्यम् + अस्तेयम्
- मानस्यानाहुः = मानसानि + आहुः
Varāha
Receptive, instructed; implicitly burdened by adharma and seeking guidance
What constitutes the ‘mental’ (mānasa) vows that purify a person?
Vrata is not only external ritual; the mind’s non-violence, truth, non-theft, continence, and stainlessness are foundational.
Cultivate daily self-audit of intention and impulse; treat speech/action-vratas as secondary to mental purity.
Instructional address to Earth as धराधरा (Earth-bearer), teaching inner disciplines as vratas.
Varāha as dharma-sthāpaka: the ‘lifting’ of Earth parallels lifting the mind from mala (taint) through ahiṃsā etc.; the avatāra’s salvific act is mirrored as ethical restraint sustaining the world-order.
Implicit: ‘earth-bearer’ address evokes the cosmic support-function; the ‘mental vows’ function like internal yajña—offering हिंसा/असत्य etc. into the fire of discernment.
Antaḥkaraṇa-śuddhi as prerequisite for jñāna and bhakti; ethics as sādhana-catuṣṭaya-adjacent (śama/dama/ahiṃsā) enabling realization of Viṣṇu as inner ruler.
Define mānasa-vratas as ahiṃsā, satya, asteya, brahmacarya, and akalkatā (inner purity).
Observance stabilizes dharma and purifies intention (saṅkalpa), enabling higher ritual/vrata fruits; violation stains mind and undermines all external observances.
Inner purity and eligibility for higher dharma; external vratas become fruitful when grounded in these.
Varāha Purāṇa 37.37.5-6 (kāyika/vācika vratas); Varāha Purāṇa ch.37 (vrata taxonomy context)
FAQs
It reflects a dharma-oriented ethical vocabulary shared across Purāṇic and Dharma-śāstra traditions, presenting core virtues as internal (mental) observances rather than only external ritual acts.
No specific geographic location is named in this verse; the address “dharādhara” is an epithet meaning “bearer of the earth,” functioning as a vocative within the dialogue framework.
The verse enumerates key virtues—non-violence, truthfulness, non-stealing, disciplined sexual conduct, and moral purity—and classifies them as “mental vows” (mānasa-vrata), emphasizing inner discipline.
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