Varaha Purana 21.66: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 66

The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share

Pūrva Bhāga · Pr̥thivī-uddhāra / Dialogic Instruction (Contextual Apology and Forgiveness)

Devanagari script

अदर्शनेऽनयद् देव मूढविज्ञानतोऽधुना । कृतमस्माभिरेवेश तदत्र क्षम्यतां प्रभो ॥ २१.६७ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 21.66

Transliteration

adarśane 'nayad deva mūḍha-vijñānato 'dhunā | kṛtam asmābhir eveśa tad atra kṣamyatāṃ prabho || 21.67 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

ഹേ ദേവാ! മൂഢജ്ഞാനത്താൽ ഞങ്ങൾ ഇപ്പോൾ ഈ കാര്യത്തെ അദർശനം/അസ്പഷ്ടതയിലേക്കു നയിച്ചു. പ്രഭോ, ഞങ്ങളാൽ സംഭവിച്ചതെല്ലാം ഇവിടെ ക്ഷമിക്കണമേ, ഈശ്വരാ।

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Word by Word

• अदर्शने: in (your) not being seen; in absence of sight
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, सप्तमी (7th/Locative), एकवचन; ‘दर्शन’ with privative अ-
• Role: Adhikarana (अधिकरण/Location)
• Root: अ-दर्शन (प्रातिपदिक)

• अनयत्: led; brought
• Type: Verb
• Form: लङ्-लकार (Imperfect/Past), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; परस्मैपद; √नी = to lead
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Root: नी (धातु)

• देव: O god
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Root: देव (प्रातिपदिक)

• मूढविज्ञानतः: due to deluded understanding
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, पञ्चमी (5th/Ablative), एकवचन; हेत्वर्थे (cause)
• Role: Hetu (हेतु/Cause)
• Root: मूढ-विज्ञान (प्रातिपदिक; मूढ + विज्ञान)

• अधुना: now
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: कालवाचक-अव्यय (temporal adverb)
• Role: Kala (काल/Time)
• Root: अधुना (अव्यय)

• कृतम्: done; committed
• Type: Verb
• Form: कृदन्त; क्त-प्रत्ययान्त (past passive participle), नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; ‘done/committed’
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object; thing done)
• Root: कृ (धातु)

• अस्माभिः: by us
• Type: Noun
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम; तृतीया (3rd/Instrumental), बहुवचन
• Role: Kartr-karana (कर्तृकरण/Agent expressed instrumentally)
• Root: अस्मद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• एव: indeed
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: निश्चयार्थक-अव्यय (emphatic particle)
• Role: Nipata (निपात/Particle)
• Root: एव (अव्यय)

• ईश: O Lord
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Root: ईश (प्रातिपदिक)

• तत्: that
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, द्वितीया (2nd/Accusative), एकवचन; ‘that (act)’
• Role: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• अत्र: here; in this matter
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: देशवाचक-अव्यय (locative adverb)
• Role: Desha (देश/Place)
• Root: अत्र (अव्यय)

• क्षम्यताम्: may it be forgiven
• Type: Verb
• Form: लोट्-लकार (Imperative/benedictive request), प्रथमपुरुष (3rd person), एकवचन; आत्मनेपद; कर्मणि-प्रयोग (passive sense): ‘let it be forgiven’
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया/Verb)
• Root: क्षम (धातु)

• प्रभो: O Lord
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, सम्बोधन (Vocative), एकवचन
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Root: प्रभु (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• अदर्शनेऽनयत् = अदर्शने + अनयत्
• मूढविज्ञानतोऽधुना = मूढविज्ञानतः + अधुना
• अस्माभिरेवेश = अस्माभिः + एव + ईश

Speaker and setting

Karuna and Shanta rasa

Speaker

Pṛthivī

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

She worships

Her state of mind

Contrite, burdened by error, seeking absolution

What she asks

How can the fault born of deluded understanding be forgiven, and obscurity/non-perception be removed?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Ethics of knowledge and error (ajñāna→moha)

Subjects

EthicsPhilosophical Instruction

Core idea

Misapprehension (mūḍha-vijñāna) veils truth (adarśana); humility and surrender reopen right-seeing.

In practice

Acknowledge cognitive/moral error, correct intention, and explicitly ask forgiveness before resuming dharmic action or inquiry.

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Dialogue
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Sanskrit Philology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It exemplifies a common Purāṇic rhetorical pattern: a subordinate interlocutor acknowledges error (often framed as mūḍha-vijñāna, “misguided understanding”) and requests kṣamā (forgiveness), reflecting ethical self-regulation within didactic dialogue.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic toponym appears in this verse fragment; it functions as a moral-psychological statement rather than a sacred-geography marker.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse foregrounds accountability and correction: recognizing that actions may arise from confused understanding and explicitly seeking forgiveness as a means of restoring proper order in discourse and conduct.