Varaha Purana 98.23: Adhyaya 98, Shloka 23
Chapter on the Sacred Hill Episode: Satyatapā and the Marvel of Varāha
दृष्टं चक्षुर्निहितं जङ्गमेषु जिह्वा वक्तुं मृगयौ तद्विसृष्टम् ॥ द्रष्टुं चक्षुर्नास्ति जिह्वेह वक्तुं जिह्वायाः स्यात्तत्त्वतोऽस्तीह चक्षुः ॥
dṛṣṭaṁ cakṣur nihitaṁ jaṅgameṣu jihvā vaktuṁ mṛgayau tadvisṛṣṭam || draṣṭuṁ cakṣur nāsti jihveha vaktuṁ jihvāyāḥ syāt tattvato 'stīha cakṣuḥ ||
ചലിക്കുന്ന ജീവികളിൽ ദൃഷ്ടി കണ്ണിൽ നിക്ഷിപ്തമാണ്; നാവ് വാക്കിനായി സൃഷ്ടിക്കപ്പെട്ടതാണ്—ഇതാണ് നിയമം. നാവ് കാണുകയില്ല, കണ്ണ് സംസാരിക്കുകയില്ല; തത്ത്വത്തിൽ നാവ് നാവേ, കണ്ണ് കണ്ണേ.
Varāha (default narrator/instructor framework; explicit speaker not marked in fragment)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":false}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":true,"symbolic_interpretation":"Differentiation of faculties (indriya-vyavasthā) illustrates ordered creation: each organ has its svadharma; confusion of functions is adharma/avidyā. By extension, the cosmic body (including Yajña-Varāha imagery) is an integrated system where each limb serves a precise role.","yajna_varaha_imagery":"Indriyas as ‘assigned’ (niyukta) functions parallels yajña-nyāsa: each ritual element has a fixed office; misassignment breaks the rite—so too misidentifying the self with a faculty breaks knowledge.","vedantic_connection":"Sāṅkhya/Vedānta: indriyas are instruments; the seer (draṣṭā/ātman) is distinct. Correct epistemology requires knowing the limits of sense and speech (neti-neti implication)."}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"epistemology / embodied cognition","core_concept":"Each sense-organ has a bounded domain; knowledge errors arise when functions are conflated or when the self is mistaken for an instrument.","practical_application":"In inquiry, separate perception from testimony: do not demand ‘seeing’ from speech or ‘speaking’ from sight; use each pramāṇa appropriately and cultivate discernment (viveka)."}
Subject Matter: ["Philosophy","Epistemology","Embodied cognition"]
Primary Rasa: śānta
Secondary Rasa: buddhi
Type: teaching setting (generic)
Related Themes: 98.25.0 (insight after stalled intellect)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A didactic tableau showing the eye associated with sight and the tongue with speech, emphasizing their distinct functions and boundaries.","item_prompts":["stylized eye emitting a beam toward a visible object","tongue or mouth emitting syllables (akṣara)","a dividing line or balanced scale indicating differentiation","sage/teacher gesturing to illustrate indriya roles"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: symbolic composition with a teacher figure, large stylized eye and mouth motifs, clear iconographic separation, warm reds/ochres and green foliage borders.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style: embossed gold outlines around the eye and mouth symbols, teacher centered, decorative prabhāmaṇḍala, minimal but ornate iconography.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore style: refined symbolic rendering—eye and mouth as elegant motifs, subtle shading, teacher’s hand in upadeśa-mudrā.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari style: lyrical, miniature-like scene with a sage teaching; delicate symbols of eye and speech floating like thought-forms, soft landscape wash."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"didactic, precise","suggested_raga":"Bhairav","pace":"madhyama (measured)","voice_tone":"clear, analytical, with crisp articulation to mirror the theme of speech and its limits."}
FAQs
It preserves a didactic common-place found across Sanskrit literature: the differentiation of sensory faculties, used to argue for order in nature and limits of perception.
No location is named; the verse is conceptual and physiological.
It implies disciplined discernment: each faculty has limits, so one should not confuse roles or claim capacities beyond one’s nature.
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