Varaha Purana 141.46: Adhyaya 141, Shloka 46
The Sacred Greatness of Badarikāśrama
Badrinath Region
Uttara Bhāga · Tīrtha-Māhātmya (Esoteric Site Names and Mythic Etiologies)
अस्ति चोर्वशिकुण्डेति गुह्यं क्षेत्रे परं मम। यत्र चैवोर्वशी भित्त्वा दक्षिणोरुमजायत॥
asti corvaśikuṇḍeti guhyaṁ kṣetre paraṁ mama | yatra caivorvaśī bhittvā dakṣiṇorum ajāyata ||
asti chorvashikuNDeti guhyaM kShetre paraM mama || yatra chaivorvashI bhittvA dakShiNorumajAyata
എന്റെ പരമ ഗുഹ്യമായ ക്ഷേത്രത്തിൽ ‘ചോർവശികുണ്ഡം’ എന്നൊരു തീർത്ഥമുണ്ട്; അവിടെയാണു ഉർവശി (അതിനെ) പിളർത്തി വലതുതുടയിൽ നിന്ന് ജനിച്ചത്.
Sandhi Notes
- चोर्वशिकुण्डेति = च + उर्वशिकुण्डा + इति
- चैवोर्वशी = च + एव + उर्वशी
- दक्षिणोरुमजायत = दक्षिणोरुम् + अजायत
Varāha
Curious; receptive to sacred-geographic revelation
Implicit: ‘What are the secret supreme sites on my body/within your kṣetra, and what are their origins?’
Tīrthas are not merely physical sites; they are ‘owned’/ensouled by the deity and carry hidden (guhya) origins that sanctify place.
Approach such sites with restraint and reverence; treat pilgrimage as contact with a living divine narrative rather than tourism.
Varāha, as sacred-geography narrator, discloses to Bhū-devī a hidden tīrtha belonging to him (mama kṣetra).
Varāha Purāṇa 141 (Mathurā/kshetra-kathā sequence around guhyatīrthas and tapas-sthānas)
FAQs
It provides an etiology for a sacred pond (kuṇḍa) through a named figure (Urvaśī), illustrating how Purāṇic texts anchor mythic memory to specific landscapes.
A site called (C)Orvaśikuṇḍa is identified; without additional coordinates in the excerpt, it remains a Purāṇic toponym requiring cross-text comparison for modern mapping.
The verse primarily encodes cultural-heritage meaning (why a place is considered significant) rather than issuing a direct ethical rule.
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