Varaha Purana 96.2: Adhyaya 96, Shloka 2
The Threefold Power: The Raudrī Observance and the Manifestation of Chāmuṇḍā
Pūrva Bhāga · Vrata literature (austerity and pañcāgni practice)
तपः कृत्वा चिरं कालं पालयाम्यखलं जगत् । एवमुद्दिश्य पञ्चाग्निं साधयामास भामिनी ॥
tapaḥ kṛtvā ciraṃ kālaṃ pālayāmy akhalaṃ jagat | evam uddiśya pañcāgniṃ sādhayāmāsa bhāminī ||
tapaH kRRitvA chiraM kAlaM pAlayAmyAkhalaM jagat || evamuddishya paMchAgniM sAdhayAmAsa bhAminI
उसने बहुत देर तक तपस्या की। उसने सोचा, मैं पूरी दुनिया की रक्षा करूंगी। यह सोच के उसने पाँच आगों के बीच में बैठ कर तपस्या शुरू की। वो औरत बहुत तेज थी।
Sandhi Notes
- पालयाम्यखलं → पालयामि अखलम्
- एवमुद्दिश्य → एवम् उद्दिश्य
- पञ्चाग्निं → पञ्च-अग्निम्
Varāha (continuation context)
The moral quality of austerity is determined by its intention: sustaining the world rather than egoic power.
Undertake disciplines (fasts, vows, service) with loka-hita orientation; keep saṅkalpa explicit and steady over time.
Pañcāgni frames the body as a sacrificial field: heat (tapas) becomes yajña, converting personal endurance into cosmic maintenance (loka-saṃgraha).
Five fires as microcosmic yajña: four surrounding fires plus the sun overhead; the ascetic as havis, resolve (saṅkalpa) as mantra.
Tapas as inner yajña aligns with karma-yoga/loka-saṃgraha logic: action/discipline offered without selfish aim supports dharma and purifies antaḥkaraṇa.
Tapas undertaken with loka-saṃgraha intention (to sustain the world) is praised; pañcāgni is presented as a rigorous ascetic discipline.
Implied: such tapas generates world-sustaining merit/power; misuse or absence of discipline forfeits that protective potency (not explicit).
Implied fruit: capacity to uphold/protect the world (loka-dhāraṇa) through accumulated tapas-śakti.
Continuation of Raudrī-vrata narrative; Tapas motif leading to later conflict with the asura (next verses)
FAQs
It preserves a reference to pañcāgni asceticism, a well-attested austerity practice across Sanskrit traditions, useful for comparative ritual history.
No location is specified in this verse; it continues the vrata narrative framework.
It emphasizes tapas and intentionality directed toward collective welfare (“sustaining the world”), a key Purāṇic ethical theme.
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