Varaha Purana 48.3: Adhyaya 48, Shloka 3
The Kalki Dvādaśī Observance and the Episode of King Viśāla
Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-uddhāra / Viśvarūpa-varṇana (iconographic description)
शितिकण्ठाय कण्ठं तु खड्गपाणेति वै भुजौ । चतुर्भुजायेति हस्तौ विश्वमूर्त्ते तथा शिरः ॥ ४८.३ ॥
śitikaṇṭhāya kaṇṭhaṃ tu khaḍgapāṇeti vai bhujau | caturbhujāyeti hastau viśvamūrte tathā śiraḥ || 48.3 ||
shitikaNThAya kaNThaM tu khaDgapANeti vai bhujau | chaturbhujAyeti hastau vishvamUrtte tathA shiraH || 48.3 ||
शितिकंठ के लिए गला है। खड्गपाणि मतलब जो तलवार पकड़े हैं, उनकी बाहें हैं। चार हाथों वाले भगवान के हाथ हैं। विश्वमूर्ति मतलब जिसकी शकल पूरा जग है, उनका सिर है।
Sandhi Notes
- khaḍgapāṇeti = khaḍga-pāṇe + iti
- caturbhujāyeti = caturbhujāya + iti
Varāha
The deity is invoked through names into specific limbs, making the embodied self a support (ālambana) for universal-form contemplation.
In japa/pūjā, perform aṅga-nyāsa with these epithets to stabilize visualization and unify multiple iconographic conceptions into one worship-sequence.
A nyāsa-like mapping of the worshipper’s body to multiple divine epithets teaches that the deity is approached as a composite of forms (Śiva-like Śitikaṇṭha, weapon-bearing Khaḍgapāṇi, Caturbhuja Viṣṇu, and Viśvamūrti), implying the Lord’s pervasion of the microcosm (body) and macrocosm (universal form).
Instead, ritual designation (aṅga-nyāsa) assigns: throat=Śitikaṇṭha, arms=Khaḍgapāṇi, hands=Caturbhuja, head=Viśvamūrti.
Supports bhedābheda-style devotional theology: many names/forms are functional upādhis of one all-pervading reality; the body becomes a locus for īśvara-smṛti through nyāsa.
48.48.4-5 (continuation into installation/dāna sequence)
FAQs
It preserves a concise specimen of Purāṇic iconographic language, where divine epithets are systematically associated with bodily features—useful for studying the history of ritual description, visual theology, and Sanskrit epithet formation.
No geographic location is named in this verse-fragment; the content is primarily iconographic and lexical rather than topographical.
The verse does not foreground an ethical injunction; its primary function is descriptive—cataloguing epithets and their association with specific body-parts within a ritual/interpretive framework.
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.
