Varaha Purana 145.3: Adhyaya 145, Shloka 3

The Greatness of the Śālagrāma Sacred Region

Devanagari script

अभिन्नमतुलच्छायं विशालं पुष्पितं तथा ॥ मनोज्ञं च सुगन्धं च देवानामपि दुर्लभम् ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 145.3

Transliteration

abhinna-matula-cchāyaṃ viśālaṃ puṣpitaṃ tathā || mano-jñaṃ ca su-gandhaṃ ca devānām api durlabham ||

Translation

അത് ഭംഗമില്ലാത്ത രൂപത്തോടെയും അതുല്യമായ നിഴലോടെയും വിശാലമായി പുഷ്പിച്ചിരുന്നതും; മനോഹരവും സുഗന്ധസമൃദ്ധവും—ദേവന്മാർക്കും ദുർലഭവുമായിരുന്നതും ആകുന്നു।

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Word by Word

• abhinna-matula-cchāyam: having unbroken, incomparable shade
• abhinna-matula-cchāyam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण of sālam)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: abhinna + atula + chāyā (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; multi-member कर्मधारय describing ‘sālam’: ‘abhinnaṃ atulaṃ chāyā yasya/ yathā’ → ‘with unbroken, incomparable shade’

• viśālam: vast
• viśālam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: viśāla (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; agreeing with implied ‘sālam’

• puṣpitam: in bloom
• puṣpitam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: puṣpita (प्रातिपदिक; from √puṣp)
• Form: Past participial adjective (क्त), Masculine Accusative Singular; ‘flowering’

• tathā: also/likewise
• tathā: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (तथार्थक)

• mano-jñam: mind-pleasing
• mano-jñam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: manas + jña (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; तत्पुरुष: ‘manaḥ jānāti/rañjayati iti’ → pleasing to the mind

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, conjunction (समुच्चय)

• su-gandham: fragrant
• su-gandham: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: su + gandha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; कर्मधारय: ‘sundaraḥ gandhaḥ yasya’

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, conjunction

• devānām: of the gods
• devānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (षष्ठी) Plural (बहुवचन)

• api: even
• api: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: api (अव्यय)
• Form: Avyaya, particle (अपि = even/also)

• durlabham: rare to obtain
• durlabham: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: durlabha (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; agreeing with implied ‘sālam’

Speaker

Varāha

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Poetics
• Sacred Ecology
• Ancient Geography

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

Such descriptive cataloguing (shade, size, blossoms, fragrance) is typical of māhātmya literature, linking natural features to a site’s remembered sanctity.

Which geographic location is identified?

No new place-name appears; the description contributes to the literary topography of Śālagrāma-kṣetra by highlighting a distinctive tree.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Implicitly, it valorizes attentive perception of the natural world within sacred geography, aligning environmental features with cultural heritage.