Varaha Purana 198.8: Adhyaya 198, Shloka 8
Description of the Torments within the Cycle of Rebirth: Hymn to Yama and the Introduction to Citragupta’s Administration
कालवृद्धिकरं स्तोत्रं क्षिप्रं तत्र उदीरयन् ॥ येन प्रीतो महातेजा यमः परमधार्मिकः ॥
kāla-vṛddhi-karaṃ stotraṃ kṣipraṃ tatra udīrayan | yena prīto mahā-tejā yamaḥ parama-dhārmikaḥ ||
അവിടെ ആയുസ്സ് വർധിപ്പിക്കുന്ന സ്തോത്രം വേഗത്തിൽ ഉച്ചരിക്കുമ്പോൾ, അതിനാൽ മഹാതേജസ്സും പരമധാർമ്മികനുമായ യമൻ പ്രസന്നനാകുന്നു.
Varāha (default dialogue framework; speaker not explicitly marked in verse)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"shraddha","instruction_summary":"Recite promptly at the prescribed place a kāla-vṛddhi-kara stotra that pleases Yama, the supremely dhārmic lord.","karmic_consequence":"Proper recitation is said to extend allotted time (āyus) and secure Yama’s favor; omission implies forfeiture of āyus-increase and lack of that protective favor."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":true,"symbolic_interpretation":"Yama’s pleasure through stotra underscores ṛta/dharma as cosmic regulation of time (kāla) and death; hymn becomes a dharmic ‘lever’ within the moral-time order.","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None (not Yajña-Varāha anatomy, but ritual speech as a time-regulating sacrificial analogue).","vedantic_connection":"Kāla as a governing principle within īśvara’s order; aligning speech (vāk) with dharma harmonizes one’s prārabdha within the permitted scope (traditional phala-śruti framing)."}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"dharma and kāla","core_concept":"Time and death are not random but governed by dharma; reverent ritual speech can reorient one’s life-course within that order.","practical_application":"Maintain regular stotra-recitation with ethical living; treat āyus as dharma-supported, not merely biological."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Ritual Culture"]
Primary Rasa: śānta
Secondary Rasa: bhayānaka
Type: ritual-site
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 198.9–12 (explicit Yama epithets in the stotra)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Instruction to recite a time-increasing hymn at a sacred spot; Yama, radiant and dharmic, becomes pleased by the recitation.","item_prompts":["reciter (ṛṣi/householder) with joined palms","subtle depiction of Yama with aura","script/scroll of stotra","hourglass/kalasha motif for kāla","dharmic balance scale motif (optional)"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: devotee reciting before a stylized Yama figure (dark-green/blue tones, restrained fierceness), warm halo, temple-like setting, emphasis on dharma.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: Yama enthroned with gold halo, devotee at lower corner reciting from palm-leaf, ornate frame, symbolic sun-like radiance.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: elegant Yama iconography with staff/noose hinted, devotee reciting, soft background, focus on calm propitiation rather than terror.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: narrative vignette—devotee at a tīrtha platform reciting, Yama appearing in the sky with gentle authority, cool mountain palette."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"solemn, protective","suggested_raga":"Bhairav","pace":"medium-slow","voice_tone":"grave, steady, reverential toward Yama"}
FAQs
It preserves a ritual-literary idea that sanctioned recitation can affect lifespan (kāla), reflecting broader South Asian intersections of ethics, ritual performance, and cosmological time.
No specific place-name is given; “tatra” (“there”) refers to a context implied by the surrounding narrative.
It encourages disciplined recitation as a culturally authorized practice aligned with dharma, here associated with Yama’s approval.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.