Varaha Purana 153.13: Adhyaya 153, Shloka 13
The Glory of the Mathurā Sacred Landscape: Saṃyamana Tīrtha and the Twelve Sacred Forests
कालो गच्छति राजा तु भोगासक्तिं च विन्दति॥ भोगासक्तस्य वसुधे वर्षाणि सप्तसप्ततिः॥
kālo gacchati rājā tu bhogāsaktiṃ ca vindati | bhogāsaktasya vasudhe varṣāṇi saptasaptatiḥ ||
കാലം കടന്നു; രാജാവ് ഭോഗങ്ങളിൽ ആസക്തനായി. ഹേ വസുധേ, ഭോഗാസക്തനു വർഷങ്ങൾ എഴുപത്തേഴായി.
Narrator (default framework: Varāha → Pṛthivī)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"observer"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"rajaniti","instruction_summary":"A ruler must restrain bhoga-āsakti (addiction to pleasures); unchecked indulgence erodes dharma and distorts one’s experience of time and duty.","karmic_consequence":"Attachment breeds negligence and eventual lament; restraint preserves clarity, merit, and stable succession."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"anthropology of desire and time","core_concept":"Kāla moves inexorably; bhoga-āsakti makes life slip by and duty fade, producing a compressed, unreflective passage of years.","practical_application":"Cultivate vairāgya and periodic self-audit (daily/seasonal) to prevent pleasure from becoming identity; leaders should institutionalize restraint (counsel, dharma sabhā, charity schedules)."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Philosophical anthropology"]
Primary Rasa: śānta
Secondary Rasa: karuṇa
Type: temporal/biographical setting rather than a fixed place
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa: moral arcs where kings begin in dāna/praja-pālana and later fall into bhoga leading to regret
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Aging king in a luxurious chamber surrounded by symbols of pleasure—music, wine, ornaments—while an unseen sense of time (hourglass/setting sun motif) presses on him; Earth addressed as silent witness.","item_prompts":["older king with weary eyes","courtly luxuries (garlands, instruments)","setting sun through window","calendar/clock-like motif","shadow lengthening across floor"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: expressive face of the king with softened eyes, stylized sunset band, attendants with fans and instruments, mood turning inward.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: opulent gold detailing on ornaments and throne, contrasted with a darkening background gradient suggesting time’s passage.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: intimate interior with nuanced facial expression, gentle chiaroscuro, emphasis on psychological shift from delight to attachment.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: poetic dusk scene with palace balcony, king gazing outward as time passes, minimal props, strong atmosphere."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"reflective, admonitory","suggested_raga":"Todi (or Bhairavi for gravity)","pace":"slow-medium","voice_tone":"measured, slightly somber emphasis on 'कालो गच्छति' and 'भोगासक्तिं'"}
FAQs
It illustrates a common Purāṇic motif: time’s passage coupled with attachment (āsakti) shaping a ruler’s life-course, relevant to studies of moral psychology in Sanskrit narrative literature.
No geographic site is named in this verse.
The text foregrounds the ethical risk of bhoga-attachment, implying that indulgence can define or consume extended spans of life.
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