Varaha Purana - Adhyaya 52
Varaha PuranaAdhyaya 5211 Shlokas

Adhyaya 52: The Genealogy of Trivarṇa, Manohvā, and the Akṣa Lineage, with the Construction of the Nine-Gated City

Trivarṇa–Manohvā–Akṣa-vaṃśaḥ (Nava-dvāra-pura-nirmāṇaṃ ca)

Mythic-Anthropology and Cosmological Allegory (Body–City symbolism; Kingship and Ritual Order)

ヴァラーハとプリティヴィーの教示という枠組みの中で、本章はアガスティヤの語りとして、かつて無秩序であった社会領域に秩序が与えられていく系譜を示す。王の放出からトリヴァルナ(Trivarṇa)が生じ、ついで「覚醒」を体現する娘(Avabodha-svarūpiṇī)が現れ、さらに子マノーヴァ(Manohvā)が生まれる。その子孫は五人の「享受者」(pañca-bhoginaḥ)となり、彼らの息子たちは総称してアクシャ(Akṣa)と呼ばれる。彼らはもとはダスユであったが王権により鎮められ、共に吉祥なる住処を築く。すなわち一本の柱と四つ辻を備え、九つの門をもつ都であり、多くの河川と水路に囲まれている。都に入ると彼らは一つに統合され、肉身の王パシュパーラ(Paśupāla)が顕現してヴェーダの言葉を想起し、誓戒・制御・儀礼を制定する。祭儀への専念とヨーガの眠りから、四つのヴェーダに結びつく四面四臂の存在を生み、のちに諸々の生息地の動物が王の統治のもとに置かれる。

Speakers

VarāhaPṛthivīAgastya

Key Concepts

trivarṇa (social-typological symbolism)avabodha-svarūpiṇī (personified cognition/awakening)pañca-bhoginaḥ (five-fold enjoyment; possible sense-complex allegory)akṣa (lineage-name; also semantic field of ‘axis/die/eye’)dasyu → vaśīkṛta (subjugation and incorporation into polity)nava-dvāra-pura (nine-gated city; body–polis metaphor)eka-stambha (single pillar/axis motif)catuṣpatha (four crossroads; spatial/ritual ordering)karmakāṇḍa (ritual performance as governance technology)yoga-nidrā (creative latency; generative trance)caturvaktra–caturbāhu (four-faced, four-armed archetype; Vedic totality)pṛthivī-santulana (implicit terrestrial order via waterworks and habitat governance)
Sanskrit recitationVaraha Purana Adhyaya 52

Shlokas in Adhyaya 52

Verse 1

अगस्त्य उवाच । स त्रिवर्णो नृपोत्सृष्टः स्वतन्त्रत्वाच्च पार्थिव । अहं नामानमसृजत् पुत्रं पुत्रस्त्रिवर्णकम् ॥ ५२.१ ॥

アガスティヤは言った。「王よ、王により放たれたそのトリヴァルナは自立した。ついで私はナーマナという名の子をもうけ、その子がトリヴァルナカであった。」

Verse 2

तस्यापि चाभवत् कन्या अवबोधस्वरूपिणी । सा तु विज्ञानदं पुत्रं मनोह्वं विससर्ज ॥ ५२.२ ॥

彼にもまた、覚醒そのものを本性とする娘が生まれた。彼女はさらに、ヴィジュニャーナダという子を産み、その名をマノーヴァといった。

Verse 3

तस्यापि सर्वरूपाः स्युः स्तनयाः पञ्चभोगिनः । यथासंख्येन पुत्रास्तु तेषामक्षाभिधानकाः ॥ ५२.३ ॥

彼にもまた、あらゆる姿を備えた子らがあり、「五人の享受者」として知られる。順次に、その子らの子は「アクシャ(Akṣa)」の名を帯びる者たちである。

Verse 4

एते पूर्वं दस्यवः स्युस्ततो राज्ञा वशीकृताः । अमूर्ता इव ते सर्वे चक्रुरायतनं शुभम् ॥ ५२.४ ॥

これらは以前はダースユ(dāsyu)であったが、のちに王によって服従させられた。ついで、まるで無形であるかのように、彼らは皆で吉祥なる聖所(āyatana)を造営した。

Verse 5

नवद्बारं पुरं तस्य त्वेकस्तम्भं चतुष्पथम् । नदीसहस्रसङ्कीर्णं जलक्रीत्या समास्थितम् ॥ ५२.५ ॥

その都には九つの門があり、一本の柱と四方に通じる辻がしるしとなっていた。千の河が織りなすように巡り、水戯と水上の遊楽の場として据えられていた。

Verse 6

तत्पुरं ते प्रविविशुरेकीभूतास्ततो नव । पुरुषो मूर्त्तिमान् राजा पशुपालोऽभवत् क्षणात् ॥ ५२.६ ॥

ついでその九つのものは一つに合して、その都へと入った。たちまち王は肉身を具えた人となり、牛を守る牧者となった。

Verse 7

ततस्तत्पुरसंस्थस्तु पशुपालो महान्नृपः । संसूच्य वाचकाञ्छब्दान् वेदान् सस्मार तत्पुरे ॥ ५२.७ ॥

さらにその都に住まうとき、大王は牧者として、合図となる指示の語を示し、そこでヴェーダを想起した。

Verse 8

आत्मस्वरूपिणो नित्यास्तदुक्तानि व्रतानि च । नियमाञ् क्रतवश्चैव सर्वान् राजा चकार ह ॥ ५२.८ ॥

自己の本性に常住する者たちとともに、説かれた誓戒(ヴラタ)と規律、さらに一切の規定と祭式(クラトゥ)を、王はことごとく実践した。

Verse 9

स कदाचिन्नृपः खिन्नः कर्मकाण्डं प्ररोचयन् । सर्वज्ञो योगनिद्रायां स्थित्वा पुत्रं ससर्ज ह ॥ ५२.९ ॥

ある時、その王は疲れ、儀礼行為の部(カルマカーンダ)を好むようになった。全知者はヨーガの眠り(ヨーガニドラー)に入り、ついに一子を生じた。

Verse 10

चतुर्वक्त्रं चतुर्बाहुं चतुर्वेदं चतुष्पथम् । तस्मादारभ्य नृपतेर्वशे पश्वादयः स्थिताः ॥ ५२.१० ॥

(彼は)四つの顔、四つの腕を備え、四ヴェーダに結びつき、四つ辻(交差路)を司る者である。その時より、獣をはじめ諸々の生類は王の支配下にとどまった。

Verse 11

तस्मिन् समुद्रे स नृपो वने तस्मिंस्तथैव च । तृणादिषु नृपस्सैव हस्त्यादिषु तथैव च । समोऽभवत् कर्मकाण्डादनुज्ञाय महामते ॥ ५२.११ ॥

その海においても、またその森においても、王は同様のあり方で存した。草などの中においても同じく、象などの中においても同じである。業儀(カルマカーンダ、祭式と業の秩序)により許可を得て、ああ大いなる思慮の人よ、彼は平等となり、すなわち諸形態にわたり差別なき状態となった。

Inside Adhyaya 52

How it unfolds

  1. Where it opens

    Within the Varāha–Pṛthivī teaching frame, Agastya is invoked as an authoritative transmitter of an origin-lineage that explains how a previously unregulated social field becomes ordered through kingship, speech, and rite.

  2. Central event

    A genealogy unfolds—Trivarṇa arising from a king’s emission; a daughter embodying awakening (Avabodha-svarūpiṇī); a son Manohvā; and descendants described as five ‘enjoyers’ whose sons are collectively called Akṣa—followed by their collective construction of an auspicious nine-gated city (nava-dvāra-pura) with a single pillar and four crossroads, set amid many rivers and engineered waterworks.

  3. Climax resolution

    Upon entering and unifying within the city, a corporeal king, Paśupāla, manifests; he ‘remembers’ Vedic speech, institutes vows/restraints and ritual regulation (vrata–niyama–karmakāṇḍa), and from yogic sleep generates a four-faced, four-armed Veda-totality figure; thereafter animals across ocean/forest/grassland domains come under ordered governance, signaling stabilized polity and ecology.

Geographical context

No explicit toponyms are named. Ecological-spatial markers include: samudra (oceanic region), vana (forest), tṛṇa-ādi (grassland/ground-cover habitats), hasty-ādi (faunal domain exemplified by elephants), nadī-sahasra-saṃkīrṇa (landscape densely interlaced with many rivers), and jalakṛti (constructed waterworks/irrigation features) surrounding the nava-dvāra-pura.

Ritual instructions

  • Primary RitualInstitution of vrata–niyama and karmakāṇḍa as a governance-forming discipline grounded in Vedic recollection (Vedic speech as normative speech).
  • BenefitTransformation of dasyu-status groups into integrated civic participants; stabilization of social hierarchy and conduct through disciplined speech and rite; establishment of a well-watered, habitat-spanning order under kingship (social and ecological balance).

The narrative frame

  • Varāha (primary frame) relaying/hosting Agastya’s accountPṛthivī · Pedagogical-mythic and etiological (explaining origins of social order through genealogy, city symbolism, and ritual authority).

The emotional journey

  • Dominant RasaŚānta (ordered calm) with undertones of Vīra (sovereign force)
  • Emotional ProgressionFrom liminality and unruliness (dasyu condition) → collective building and spatial coherence (city-making) → awe and legitimacy (king’s manifestation and Vedic recollection) → settled equilibrium (ritualized governance and ecological stewardship).

Planning a pilgrimage

  • Visit FeasibilityNot directly mappable as a single historical tirtha in the chapter summary; best approached as an allegorical ‘body–city’ and polity-foundation motif rather than a visitable site.

Frequently Asked Questions

The chapter frames social order as produced through disciplined speech (Vedic recollection), regulated conduct (vrata and niyama), and institutionalized rites (karmakāṇḍa). It depicts the transformation of formerly outside groups (dasyu) into participants in a constructed civic and ecological order, suggesting that governance is enacted through both spatial planning (city, crossroads) and normative practice (vows and ritual regulation).

No explicit calendrical data appear in the provided verses: there are no named tithis, nakṣatras, months, or seasonal markers. The only temporal structuring is narrative (e.g., “kadācit,” and the interval of “yoga-nidrā”), which functions as a literary timing device rather than a ritual calendar.

Environmental ordering is implied through the description of a settlement embedded in a river-rich landscape (nadī-sahasra-saṃkīrṇa) with deliberate water constructions (jalakṛti). The narrative also links kingship to habitat-spanning oversight—ocean, forest, grasses, and animal domains—presenting terrestrial balance as maintained by coordinated infrastructure, regulated practice, and integrated stewardship across ecosystems.

Agastya is the named sage-speaker within the chapter’s report. The text outlines a lineage sequence—Trivarṇa, Avabodha-svarūpiṇī (as a daughter figure), Manohvā, and the Akṣa-named descendants—alongside the emergence of a king titled Paśupāla. These function as mythic-cultural archetypes for genealogy, polity formation, and ritual authority rather than verifiable historical dynasties.

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