Varaha Purana 62.7 — Adhyaya 62, Shloka 7
Instruction on the ‘Health Vow’ and the Rite of Solar Worship
भद्राश्व उवाच । किमसौ रोगवान् राजा येनारोग्यमवाप्तवान् । सार्वभौमस्य च कथं ब्रह्मन् रोगस्य सम्भवः ॥ ६२.७ ॥
bhadrāśva uvāca | kimasau rogavān rājā yenārogyam avāptavān | sārvabhaumasya ca kathaṃ brahman rogasya sambhavaḥ || 62.7 ||
ഭദ്രാശ്വൻ പറഞ്ഞു—ആ രാജാവ് ഏതു കാരണത്താൽ രോഗബാധിതനായി, അതിനാൽ പിന്നീടവൻ ആരോഗ്യലാഭം നേടി? ഹേ ബ്രാഹ്മണാ, സർവ്വഭൗമ ചക്രവർത്തിയിൽ രോഗം എങ്ങനെ ഉദ്ഭവിക്കും?
Bhadrāśva
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"questioner","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"How can a universal sovereign (sārvabhauma) become diseased, and why did that very disease become the means to later attain freedom from illness?"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"rajaniti","instruction_summary":"Even a sārvabhauma is subject to affliction through adharma/karma; kingship requires vigilance in conduct, restraint, and right counsel to avoid self-caused calamity.","karmic_consequence":"Right conduct and humility before dharma lead to restoration and praise; pride and misuse of power invite suffering that can become corrective through repentance."}
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":"karma-nyaya (moral causality)","core_concept":"No worldly status cancels karmic law; suffering can function as a purifying instrument leading to well-being.","practical_application":"Leaders should interpret adversity as a prompt for self-audit, counsel with dharma-śāstra, and corrective action rather than entitlement."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Kingship","Health and Affliction"]
Primary Rasa: jijñāsā
Secondary Rasa: adbhuta
Type: None
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 62.62 (frame: Bhadrāśva–Agastya dialogue on kingship and affliction)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A courtly dialogue: Bhadrāśva respectfully questions a Brahmin-sage about the paradox of a diseased universal monarch and the origin of such affliction.","item_prompts":["seated sage (Agastya implied)","inquiring king/prince Bhadrāśva with añjali","palm-leaf manuscript","royal parasol and insignia in background"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Temple-hall setting with stylized sage and royal questioner, warm earth pigments, clear hand-gestures of inquiry and instruction.","tanjore_prompt":"Ornate court scene with gold-leaf accents on royal ornaments and haloed sage, emphasizing didactic dialogue.","mysore_prompt":"Refined linework showing calm faces, subtle expressions of doubt and inquiry, manuscript and rosary details.","pahari_prompt":"Intimate indoor dialogue with delicate architecture, soft hills hinted through a window, expressive eyes conveying curiosity."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"inquiring and reflective","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"medium-slow","voice_tone":"clear, interrogative, respectful"}
FAQs
It exemplifies a common Purāṇic narrative device: a question posed by a named interlocutor to elicit a didactic explanation on kingship, causality, and human vulnerability, framed within courtly and Brahminical discourse.
No geographic location is specified in this verse; it functions as a thematic transition into an explanatory episode.
The verse foregrounds a philosophical problem rather than a direct injunction: even an idealized sovereign (sārvabhauma) may experience affliction, prompting inquiry into causation, conduct, and the conditions for restoration of health.
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