Varaha Purana 4.29: Adhyaya 4, Shloka 29
On Nārāyaṇa’s Ten Avatāras and Eightfold Manifestations, and the Account of King Aśvaśirā
Pūrva Bhāga · Narrative Frame (Royal Assembly Episode)
ततो वाक्यावसाने तु तस्य राज्ञो हि संसदि । मशका मत्कुणा यूका भ्रमराः पक्षिणोरगाः ॥ ४.२९ ॥
tato vākyāvasāne tu tasya rājño hi saṁsadi | maśakā matkuṇā yūkā bhramarāḥ pakṣiṇoragāḥ || 4.29 ||
tato vAkyAvasAne tu tasya rAj~no hi saMsadi | mashakA matkuNA yUkA bhramarAH pakShiNoragAH || 4.29 ||
രാജാവിന്റെ സഭയിൽ വാക്കുകൾ അവസാനിച്ചതോടെ കൊതുകുകൾ, കട്ടില്പുഴുക്കൾ, പേനുകൾ, വണ്ടുകൾ, പക്ഷികൾ, സർപ്പങ്ങൾ എന്നിവ പ്രത്യക്ഷപ്പെട്ടു.
Sandhi Notes
- वाक्यावसाने→वाक्य-अवसाने
- पक्षिणोरगाः→पक्षिणः उरगाः
Varāha
Portentous manifestations can disclose the presence of higher tapas/siddhi and destabilize ordinary certainty about the world’s fixedness.
Respond to uncanny events with inquiry and humility rather than panic; seek the wise to interpret signs.
A sudden irruption of diverse life-forms in the sabhā functions as a cosmological sign: the world’s multiplicity can be manifested/withdrawn as a display of māyā or yogic power, underscoring the pliability of perceived reality.
Multiplicity (nāma-rūpa) appearing within consciousness; siddhi-like manifestations are not ultimate but point to a higher controller/principle.
Varāha Purāṇa 4.4.28 (māyā framing); Varāha Purāṇa 4.4.30-32 (expansion of beings; king’s inquiry)
FAQs
It illustrates a common Purāṇic narrative device: unusual appearances of creatures in a royal court as a literary marker of disturbance, portent, or a shift in the story’s moral-political atmosphere.
No specific geographic location is named in this verse; it is set generally in a king’s assembly (saṁsad).
The verse is primarily descriptive rather than prescriptive; ethically, it functions as a narrative signal that speech and governance occur within a wider natural and social order that can show signs of imbalance.
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