Varaha Purana 13.22: Adhyaya 13, Shloka 22
The Genealogy of the Pitṛs and the Determination of Śrāddha Times
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmological Genealogies (Prajā-sarga / Pitṛ-devatā relations)
विराजस्य प्रजाश्रेष्ठा वैराजा इति ते स्मृताः ॥ देवानां पितरस्ते हि तान् यजन्तीह देवताः ॥ १३.२२ ॥
virājasya prajāśreṣṭhā vairājā iti te smṛtāḥ || devānāṁ pitaras te hi tān yajantīha devatāḥ || 13.22 ||
virAjasya prajAshreShThA vairAjA iti te smRRitAH || devAnAM pitaraste hi tAn yajantIha devatAH || 13.22 ||
ಅವರು ವಿರಾಜನ ಸಂತತಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಶ್ರೇಷ್ಠರು; ‘ವೈರಾಜ’ ಎಂದು ಸ್ಮರಿಸಲ್ಪಟ್ಟಿದ್ದಾರೆ. ಅವರು ದೇವರ ಪಿತೃಗಳೇ; ಇಲ್ಲಿ ದೇವತೆಗಳು ಅವರನ್ನು ಪೂಜಿಸುತ್ತಾರೆ.
Sandhi Notes
- पितरस्ते → पितरः ते
- यजन्तीह → यजन्ति इह
Varāha
Curious
Who are the Vairājas, what is their origin from Virāj, and why are they worshipped even by the gods?
Origins (Virāj → Vairāja) are venerable; even gods honor ancestral foundations, implying that power is sustained through gratitude and ritual reciprocity.
Maintain humility and continuity: honor forebears/lineage (literal and spiritual); treat offerings and remembrance as sustaining forces for one’s own ‘deva-like’ capacities.
Varāha continues instructing Earth: identifies Vairājas as Virāja’s foremost progeny and as deva-ancestors worshipped by the gods.
The hierarchy ‘even devas worship Pitṛs’ encodes yajña’s reciprocity: higher beings depend on ancestral/ritual foundations; cosmic order is upheld by honoring origins.
Implicit: devas as yajamānas offering to Pitṛs; Pitṛs as sustaining ‘svadhā’ channel that stabilizes divine prosperity.
Causality and dependence: manifest powers (devas) rest on prior principles (pitṛ/virāj lineage), echoing layered emanation rather than absolute autonomy.
Varāha Purāṇa 13.13.18 (Marīci etc. as Pitṛs); Varāha Purāṇa 13.13.21 (amūrta Pitṛs; Prajāpati lineage)
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic genealogical model in which named groups (here, the Vairājas) are positioned within a cosmological lineage, reflecting how early Sanskrit texts organized the relationship between divine beings, ancestors (pitṛs), and ritual veneration.
No specific geographic location is named in this verse; it is primarily cosmological and genealogical rather than a description of sacred geography.
The verse emphasizes the cultural-ritual principle of honoring ancestral figures—here framed as the deities’ worship of their own pitṛs—highlighting continuity, gratitude, and ritual responsibility within a cosmological order.
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