Varaha Purana 52.10: Adhyaya 52, Shloka 10

The Genealogy of Trivarṇa, Manohvā, and the Akṣa Lineage, with the Construction of the Nine-Gated City

Devanagari script

चतुर्वक्त्रं चतुर्बाहुं चतुर्वेदं चतुष्पथम् । तस्मादारभ्य नृपतेर्वशे पश्वादयः स्थिताः ॥ ५२.१० ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 52.10

Transliteration

caturvaktraṃ caturbāhuṃ caturvedaṃ catuṣpatham | tasmād ārabhya nṛpater vaśe paśvādayaḥ sthitāḥ || 52.10 ||

Translation

उसके चार चेहरे थे, चार हाथ थे। वो चारों वेदों को जानता था और चारों रस्तों का मालिक था। उसके बाद से राजा के कंट्रोल में जानवर और सब लोग आ गए।

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Word by Word

• catur-vaktraṃ: four-faced

• catur-bāhuṃ: four-armed

• catur-vedaṃ: (connected with) the four Vedas / embodying the four Vedas

• catuṣ-patham: fourfold road, crossroads

• tasmāt: from that

• ārabhya: beginning (from), starting with

• nṛpateḥ: of the king

• vaśe: under the control, in subjection

• paśu-ādayaḥ: animals and others

• sthitāḥ: stood, remained

Speaker

Varāha (default, speaker not explicit in fragment)

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Studies
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Sanskrit Philology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

The verse reflects a common Purāṇic strategy of linking iconographic/cosmological descriptors (four faces, four arms, four Vedas, crossroads) with models of governance, indicating how sacred symbolism and political order are narrated together in Sanskrit textual traditions.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific toponym is named in this verse. The term catuṣpatha refers generically to a crossroads or four-road junction, a culturally significant spatial marker in South Asian settlement and ritual vocabulary rather than a single identifiable location.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse presents an ideal of ordered governance: living beings (here ‘animals and others’) are described as coming under regulated royal control, implying a normative framework of stewardship, restraint, and administrative responsibility rather than unbounded domination.