Varaha Purana 68.12: Adhyaya 68, Shloka 12
Dharma Across the Four Yugas, the Disruption of Social Conduct, and Ritual Purification from Varṇa-Mixing Transgressions
अगस्त्य उवाच । चातुर्गामी भवेद्विप्रस् त्रिगामी क्षत्रियो भवेत् । द्विगामी तु भवेद्वैश्यः शूद्र एकगमः स्मृतः ॥ ६८.१२ ॥
agastya uvāca | cāturgāmī bhaved vipras trigāmī kṣatriyo bhavet | dvigāmī tu bhaved vaiśyaḥ śūdra ekagamaḥ smṛtaḥ || 68.12 ||
अगस्त्य ने कहा, ब्राह्मण के लिए चार बार गलत माना जाता है। क्षत्रिय के लिए तीन बार। वैश्य के लिए दो बार। शूद्र के लिए एक बार।
Agastya
FAQs
It preserves a dharma-śāstric style classification of social roles (varṇa) using the technical metaphor of “gati/gamana” (movement or range), reflecting how Purāṇic texts often incorporate and restate normative social theory found across early Indian legal-ethical literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; the content is primarily social-ethical and taxonomic rather than topographical.
The verse presents a traditional categorization of social groups by a graded notion of “movement/range” (gāmī), functioning as a descriptive norm within varṇa-dharma discourse rather than a narrative event or a geographic teaching.
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