Varaha Purana 38.5 — Adhyaya 38, Shloka 5
The Hunter’s Austerity and the Gaining of Durvāsas’ Favor
तमप्येवं निषिद्धं स्यादन्यं तथैवमेव च । एवं स सकटं मत्वा व्याधः किञ्चिन्न भक्षयत् ॥ ३८.५ ॥
tam apy evaṁ niṣiddhaṁ syād anyaṁ tathaivam eva ca | evaṁ sa sakaṭaṁ matvā vyādhaḥ kiñcin na bhakṣayat || 38.5 ||
ഇതും ഇപ്രകാരം തന്നെ നിഷിദ്ധമാകും; മറ്റേതും അതുപോലെ. അങ്ങനെ അതിനെ ‘ശകടം’ എന്നു കരുതി വ്യാധൻ ഒന്നും ഭക്ഷിച്ചില്ല.
Varāha
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"prayaschitta","instruction_summary":"When an act is understood to be prohibited (niṣiddha), one must refrain entirely, even if it appears permissible by analogy or substitution.","karmic_consequence":"Restraint from niṣiddha-karman prevents pāpa and supports purification; transgression accrues demerit and obstructs spiritual progress."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"ethics of intention and restraint","core_concept":"Dharma is guarded by viveka: recognizing prohibition and choosing non-consumption even under pressure of hunger.","practical_application":"When uncertain or when a rule indicates prohibition, choose the safer path of restraint and seek a dharmic alternative."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Dharma (conduct norms)","Narrative literature"]
Primary Rasa: śānta
Secondary Rasa: bībhatsa
Type: None
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 38.38.6-9 (continuation: tapas, guru-smaraṇa, Durvāsas encounter, śrāddha intent)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A hungry hunter pauses before food, mentally classifying it as forbidden and stepping back, choosing not to eat.","item_prompts":["hunter (vyādha) with bow set aside","food placed on leaves or ground","gesture of refusal/withdrawal","a cart (sakaṭa) as a visual metaphor or imagined overlay","forest edge, austere palette"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: stylized forest, the vyādha in profile with restrained expression, symbolic cart motif faintly behind, emphasis on moral resolve.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style: central vyādha with halo-like moral radiance, minimal background, gold accents on symbolic cart wheel and leaf platform.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore style: delicate linework showing hesitation and renunciation, subdued colors, detailed foliage and the refused meal.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari style: lyrical hillside-forest vignette, small figure of hunter stepping back from food, cart motif suggested as a thought-cloud."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"didactic and restrained","suggested_raga":"Ābhōgī or Śrī","pace":"slow","voice_tone":"firm, contemplative"}
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic narrative technique: embedding behavioral norms (niṣedha/prohibition) within story episodes involving recognizable social figures such as the vyādha (hunter).
No explicit geographic toponym appears in this verse; it functions primarily as an ethical-narrative statement rather than a sacred-geography marker.
The verse emphasizes the logic of prohibition (niṣiddha) applied consistently—extending a rule to comparable cases—and narratively illustrates restraint (not consuming anything) based on that understanding.
Ask anything about this verse
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