Varaha Purana 8.47: Adhyaya 8, Shloka 47
Dialogue on the Ethical Limits of Subsistence and the Five Great Sacrifices
Dharmavyādha, Mātaṅga, and Prasanna
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmological Narratives (Sṛṣṭi–Pralaya and Hari–Rudra identity motifs)
भवे भवे यश्च ससर्ज कं ततो जगत् प्रसूतं सचराचरं त्विदम् । ततश्च रुद्रात्मवति प्रलीयतेऽन्वतो हरिर्विष्णुहरस्तथोच्यते ॥ ८.४७ ॥
bhave bhave yaś ca sasarja kaṃ tato jagat prasūtaṃ sacarācaraṃ tv idam | tataś ca rudrātmavati pralīyate’nvato harir viṣṇu-haras tathocyate || 8.47 ||
bhave bhave yashcha sasarjja kaM tato jagat prasUtaM sacharAcharaM tvidam | tatashcha rudrAtmavati pralIyate- .anvato harirviShNuharastathochyate || 8.47 ||
ഓരോ ഭവചക്രത്തിലും അവൻ തന്നെയാണ് ഈ സമസ്ത ചരാചര ജഗത്തെ സൃഷ്ടിക്കുന്നത്; പിന്നെ അത് രുദ്രാത്മകമായ തത്ത്വത്തിൽ ലയിക്കുന്നു. അതുകൊണ്ട് അവനെ ഹരി—വിഷ്ണു—ഹര എന്നും പറയുന്നു।
Sandhi Notes
- tv idam = tu + idam
- pralīyate’nvato = pralīyate + anu + ataḥ (avagraha; often written ’nvato)
- viṣṇuharas = viṣṇu-haraḥ (compound with visarga sandhi before t in tathā)
Varāha
The same supreme principle is spoken of as Hari/Viṣṇu/Hara because it creates and also withdraws the cosmos into the Rudra-mode at dissolution.
Reduce sectarian antagonism; worship the one Lord while honoring diverse divine names as contextual descriptions of function.
The verse presents a Purāṇic non-sectarian synthesis: the one Lord performs sṛṣṭi and also contains pralaya as Rudra-nature; names Hari–Viṣṇu–Hara indicate functional unity of cosmic offices.
Creation as ‘emanation of offerings’ and dissolution as ‘return to the fire’; Rudra-ātmatā as the consuming phase of the same sacrificial cycle.
One reality with multiple upādhis/roles (sṛṣṭi-sthiti-laya); supports a harmonizing reading where deities are names for the same Īśvara in different cosmic functions.
Varāha Purāṇa passages that equate divine names across functions (general thematic parallel)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic strategy of articulating cyclical cosmology (sṛṣṭi–pralaya) while also presenting a reconciliatory vocabulary for major divine names (Hari/Viṣṇu and Hara/Rudra), useful for understanding sectarian interaction in early medieval Sanskrit literature.
No specific geographic or sacred-site identification appears in this verse; the content is primarily cosmological and theological.
Rather than a direct moral injunction, the verse conveys a philosophical principle: the cosmos arises and dissolves cyclically, and divine agency is described through multiple names, encouraging a conceptual view of unity across different theological designations.
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