Varaha Purana 9.2: Adhyaya 9, Shloka 2
The Sequence of Creation, the Emergence of the Praṇava, and the Fish Incarnation’s Retrieval of the Vedas
श्रीवराह उवाच । पूर्वं नारायणस्त्वेको नासीत्किञ्चिद्धरेः परम् । सैक एव रतिं लेभे नैव स्वच्छन्दकर्मकृत् ॥ ९.२ ॥
śrīvarāha uvāca | pūrvaṁ nārāyaṇas tv eko nāsīt kiñcid dhareḥ param | saika eva ratiṁ lebhe naiva svacchanda-karmakṛt || 9.2 ||
ശ്രീവരാഹൻ പറഞ്ഞു—മുമ്പ് നാരായണൻ ഒരുത്തൻ മാത്രമേ ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നുള്ളൂ; ഹരിയ്ക്ക് അതീതമായി ഒന്നും ഉണ്ടായിരുന്നില്ല. അവൻ ഒരുത്തൻ തന്നെ തൃപ്തിയിൽ നിലകൊണ്ടു; വെറും ഇഷ്ടപ്രകാരം കർമ്മം ചെയ്തില്ല।
Varāha
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic cosmogonic motif: an initial state where a single supreme principle is described as existing prior to differentiation, a theme widely attested across early medieval Sanskrit narrative-theological literature.
No geographic location is named in this verse; it functions as a cosmological preface rather than a sacred-geography passage.
The verse implies a philosophical ideal of non-capricious agency: action is not framed as arbitrary (svacchanda) but as principled, suggesting restraint and purposive conduct as a valued norm.
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