Varaha Purana 132.32: Adhyaya 132, Shloka 32

Expiatory Rites for Contact with a Corpse and with a Menstruating Woman

Devanagari script

श्रुत्वा पृथ्व्यास्तथा वाक्यं लोकनाथो जनार्दनः ॥ धर्मसंरक्षणार्थाय प्रत्युवाच वसुन्धराम् ॥

Sanskrit recitationVaraha Purana 132.32

Transliteration

śrutvā pṛthvyās tathā vākyaṃ lokanātho janārdanaḥ | dharmasaṃrakṣaṇārthāya pratyuvāca vasundharām ||

Translation

പൃഥ്വിയുടെ ആ വാക്കുകൾ ശ്രവിച്ച ശേഷം, ലോകനാഥനായ ജനാർദനൻ ധർമ്മസംരക്ഷണാർത്ഥം വസുന്ധരയ്ക്ക് മറുപടി പറഞ്ഞു.

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Word by Word

• śrutvā: having heard

• pṛthvyāḥ: of Pṛthivī (Earth)

• vākyaṃ: statement/words

• lokanāthaḥ: lord of the world

• janārdanaḥ: Janārdana (epithet of Viṣṇu)

• dharma-saṃrakṣaṇa-arthāya: for the purpose of protecting dharma

• pratyuvāca: replied

• vasundharām: to Vasundharā (Earth)

Speaker

Sūta/Narrator (implicit framing), with Janārdana as the responding figure

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Studies
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Ritual Purity

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It illustrates a common Purāṇic narrative frame: an ethical-ritual question posed by Earth (Pṛthivī/Vasundharā) and answered by a divine instructor, aligning ritual practice with the preservation of dharma.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific place-name appears in this verse; it functions as a dialogic transition into a ritual-ethical instruction.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

That instruction is introduced as oriented toward “protecting dharma,” preparing the reader for a normative rule-set rather than a purely narrative episode.