Varaha Purana 56.1: Adhyaya 56, Shloka 1
Ritual Procedure for the Dhanyavrata
Prosperity Vow
Pūrva Bhāga · Vrata-Dharma (Vow Observances) / Dharmic Practices
अगस्त्य उवाच । अतः परं प्रवक्ष्यामि धन्यव्रतम् अनुत्तमम् । येन सद्यो भवेद् धन्य अधन्योऽपि हि यो भवेत् ॥ ५६.१ ॥
agastya uvāca | ataḥ paraṁ pravakṣyāmi dhanyavratam anuttamam | yena sadyo bhaved dhanya adhanyo 'pi hi yo bhavet || 56.1 ||
agastya uvAcha | ataH paraM pravakShyAmi dhanyavratamanuttamam | yena sadyo bhaved dhanya adhanyo.api hi yo bhavet || 56.1 ||
अगस्त्य बोले, अब मैं एक और व्रत बताता हूँ। इसका नाम धन्यव्रत है। यह सबसे बड़ा व्रत है। इससे इंसान तुरंत खुश हो जाता है। जो बड़ा गरीब हो, वो भी अमीर बन जाता है।
Sandhi Notes
- अधन्योऽपि = अधन्यः + अपि (विसर्गसन्धिः)
- भवेद् = भवेत् (द्-आदेशः पदान्ते)
Agastya
Curious; receptive to instruction about a new vow
What is the Dhanyavrata, and how does it immediately transform misfortune into blessedness?
Ritual observance (vrata) can rapidly reconfigure one’s karmic trajectory toward auspiciousness (śubha) and wellbeing.
Adopt the vow with faith and discipline, especially when experiencing ‘adhanyatā’ (inauspiciousness), as a remedial dharmic practice.
Introduction (saṅkalpa) to teach Dhanyavrata, declared ‘anuttama’ and immediately fruit-bearing.
Hearing/undertaking the vow is framed as swiftly producing auspiciousness (dhanyatā), reversing inauspicious karma.
To be specified in subsequent verses (begins next: Mārgaśīrṣa śukla pratipadā)
Immediate attainment of ‘dhanya’ status—fortune, blessedness, auspicious merit—even for the previously ‘adhanya’.
Indirect: Vaiṣṇava vrata culture that later becomes prominent in Kṛṣṇa-bhakti milieus, but no explicit Mathurā/Kṛṣṇa marker here.
Varāha Purāṇa: Dhanyavrata-vidhi continues in 56.56.2ff
FAQs
It functions as an introductory marker to a vrata-section, a common Purāṇic literary device where a speaker announces a forthcoming observance and its promised result, reflecting the genre’s didactic organization of dharma topics.
No geographic location is named in this verse; it is a thematic transition into a vow (vrata) description rather than a sacred geography passage.
The verse frames a practice-oriented ethical instruction: adopting a disciplined vow (vrata) is presented as a transformative means to shift one’s condition from ‘adhanya’ (unfortunate) to ‘dhanya’ (fortunate), emphasizing moral self-cultivation through observance.
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.
