Varaha Purana 5.40: Adhyaya 5, Shloka 40
Reconciliation of Action and Knowledge: Offering All Acts to Nārāyaṇa and the Hymn to the Yajña-Puruṣa
Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-śāstra / Karma–Jñāna Synthesis (Philosophical Instruction)
एवं ज्ञानवतः कर्म कुर्वतोऽपि स्वजातिकम् । भवेन्मुक्तिर्द्विजश्रेष्ठ रैभ्य राजन् वसो ध्रुवम् ॥ ५.४० ॥
evaṁ jñānavataḥ karma kurvato 'pi svajātikam | bhaven muktir dvijaśreṣṭha raibhya rājan vaso dhruvam || 5.40 ||
evaM j~nAnavataH karmma kurvato.api svajAtikam | bhavenmuktirdvijashreShTha raibhya rAjan vaso dhruvam || 5.40 ||
इसलिए जो ज्ञान रखता है, वो अपना काम करता रहे। अपनी जाति के धरम को फॉलो करता रहे। उसको मिलती है। यह पक्का है रैभ्य और राजा वसु।
Sandhi Notes
- kurvato 'pi → कुर्वतः + अपि
- bhaven muktir → भवेत् + मुक्तिः (t/d sandhi)
- vocatives: द्विजश्रेष्ठ, रैभ्य, राजन्, वसो
Varāha
Liberation is compatible with svadharma when action is performed by a knower without binding identification; knowledge is the liberating factor, karma becomes non-obstructive.
Continue rightful duties (family, social, ritual, service) while cultivating self-knowledge and non-attachment; convert work into offering rather than ego-project.
Varāha’s teaching voice functions as the ‘yajña-puruṣa’ principle: right action (karma) becomes non-binding when offered in knowledge—mirroring yajña where acts are consecrated and thus purified.
Implicit yajña logic rather than anatomy: karma as offering, knowledge as consecration, mokṣa as fruit beyond ritual merit.
Karma–jñāna-samuccaya / niṣkāma-karma logic as in Gītā: action performed in one’s svadharma, illumined by jñāna, culminates in freedom.
A knower (jñānavān) may perform prescribed actions within one’s own jāti/varṇa-āśrama, and still attain mokṣa when action is integrated with knowledge.
When karma is performed with knowledge and non-attachment, it does not bind and supports liberation; action without knowledge/with attachment perpetuates bondage.
Varāha Purāṇa 5.5.41 (doubt removed; departure)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic synthesis in which liberation is presented as compatible with performing prescribed duties, aligning with broader post-Vedic discourse on karma and knowledge within Sanskrit religious-philosophical literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; it is primarily doctrinal and addressed to figures identified as Raibhya and King Vasu.
The verse emphasizes that one may pursue liberation while continuing to perform one’s appropriate actions/duties, provided these actions are integrated with knowledge (jñāna).
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.
