Varaha Purana 113.46: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 46
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Yajña and Ritual Totality (Mahāyajña, Yūpa)
संक्षिप्तश्चैव विस्तारो गोप्ता यज्ञश्च शाश्वतः॥ यज्ञानां च महायज्ञो यूपानामसि संस्थितः
saṃkṣiptaś caiva vistāro goptā yajñaś ca śāśvataḥ || yajñānāṃ ca mahāyajño yūpānām asi saṃsthitaḥ
saMkShiptashchaiva vistAro goptA yaj~nashcha shashvataH|| yaj~nAnAM cha mahAyaj~no yUpAnAmasi saMsthitaH
Engkau adalah wujud yang ringkas sekaligus wujud yang luas; Engkau pelindung dan yajña yang kekal. Di antara yajña Engkau Mahāyajña; di antara yūpa Engkau yang tegak sebagai landasan.
Sandhi Notes
- संक्षिप्तश्चैव→संक्षिप्तः च एव
- यूपानामसि→यूपानाम् असि
Pṛthivī
Reverent, intellectually awed; recognizing the Lord as ritual-cosmic ground
The divine is simultaneously the compact essence and the expansive manifestation; protector and sacrifice—present as the very grammar of sacred action.
Perform ritual/ethical duties with the insight that the Lord is the inner basis of act, instrument, and fruit; cultivate reverence for Vedic symbols as pointers to the Absolute.
Bhū Devi praises Varāha/Viṣṇu as immanent in yajña and its supports; interaction is devotional address rather than physical rescue.
Varāha/Viṣṇu is identified with yajña itself—both the concise (saṅkṣipta) and expansive (vistāra) forms—implying the Lord as the inner controller (antaryāmin) of ritual structure and its cosmic efficacy.
‘Everlasting sacrifice’ (yajñaḥ śāśvataḥ); ‘among sacrifices the great sacrifice’ (mahāyajña); ‘among yūpas you are the established basis’—the yūpa as axis/ground of offering is mapped to the deity as support of all sacrificial acts.
Non-dual immanence: the same reality appears as ritual means (upāya) and ritual goal (upeya); Brahman/Viṣṇu as both form (vyakta) and formless ground (avyakta) behind Vedic action.
Varāha Purāṇa: surrounding stuti passages where Pṛthivī enumerates Viṣṇu’s cosmic identifications
FAQs
It shows how Purāṇic texts reinterpret Vedic ritual terms (yajña, yūpa) as cosmological metaphors, reflecting shifts from ritual specificity toward theological and philosophical universals.
No location is named; the verse concerns ritual categories rather than place.
The verse emphasizes protection (goptā) and enduring order (śāśvata), which can be read as valuing responsibility and continuity in cultural practice, without issuing a direct command.
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