Varaha Purana 74.3: Adhyaya 74, Shloka 3
Measures of the Earth and the Cosmos: The Expansion of the Universe and the Division of Continents and Regions
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmology and Sacred Geography (Earth-measurements and cosmic extent)
भूमिप्रमाणसंस्थानं पर्वतानां च विस्तारम् । समुद्राणां नदीणां च ब्रह्माण्डस्य च विस्तारम् । अस्माकं ब्रूहि कृपया देवदेव उमापते ॥ ७४.३ ॥
bhūmipramāṇasaṃsthānaṃ parvatānāṃ ca vistaram | samudrāṇāṃ nadīnāṃ ca brahmāṇḍasya ca vistaram | asmākaṃ brūhi kṛpayā devadeva umāpate || 74.3 ||
bhUmipramANasaMsthAnaM parvatAnAM cha vistaram | samudrANAM nadInAM cha brahmANDasya cha vistaram | asmAkaM brUhi kRRipayA devadeva umApate || 74.3 ||
भगवान, हमे बताओ ज़मीन कितनी बड़ी है और उसका शेप कैसा है। पहाड़ कितने फैले हुए हैं। समुंदर और नदियाँ कितनी लंबी हैं। और यह पूरा ब्रह्मांड कितना बड़ा है, वो भी बताओ। आप भगवान हो और उमा के पति हो, हमे दया करके समझाओ।
Sandhi Notes
- bhūmipramāṇasaṃsthānam = bhūmi-pramāṇa-saṃsthānam
- devadeva = deva-deva
- umāpate = umā-pate (voc.)
Pṛthivī
Curious, seeking cosmographic clarity
What are the measures and configurations of earth, mountains, oceans, rivers, and the brahmāṇḍa (cosmic egg)?
The world is intelligible as an ordered totality (earth–mountains–waters–rivers–cosmic egg), inviting a move from empirical wonder to metaphysical grounding.
Use cosmographic reflection to cultivate vairāgya and devotion: perceive scale, impermanence, and the need for a stable divine principle behind cosmic order.
The cosmographic question implicitly recalls Varāha’s cosmic function: stabilizing and ‘measuring’ the earth after rescue; cosmology becomes a sacred map for dharma and pilgrimage.
The ‘brahmāṇḍa’ and ordered cosmos align with yajña as cosmic order (ṛta) upheld by the divine.
Cosmos as structured manifestation within īśvara’s order; knowing ‘pramāṇa/saṃsthāna’ supports contemplation of the world as dependent reality (paratantra) rather than ultimate.
Varāha Purāṇa 74 (cosmography section beginning with pramāṇa/saṃsthāna inquiry)
FAQs
It exemplifies Purāṇic cosmography: a genre of premodern Indian literature that organizes knowledge about the earth’s form, mountains, oceans, rivers, and the universe into a systematic narrative framework.
No specific place-name is given in this verse; it functions as a general request for a cosmographic description rather than identifying a particular site.
The verse primarily frames a knowledge-seeking inquiry (requesting measurements and descriptions) rather than issuing a direct ethical rule; its philosophical instruction is the valuing of careful description and transmission of cosmological and geographic knowledge.
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