Varaha Purana 113.48: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 48
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Kāla–Mṛtyu and Cognitive Faculties (Medhā–Buddhi–Smṛti)
त्वं च कालश्च मृत्युश्च त्वं भूतो भूतभावनः॥ आदिमध्यान्त रूपोऽसि मेधा बुद्धिः स्मृतिर्भवान्
tvaṃ ca kālaś ca mṛtyuś ca tvaṃ bhūto bhūta-bhāvanaḥ || ādi-madhyānta-rūpo 'si medhā buddhiḥ smṛtir bhavān
tvaM cha kAlashcha mRRityushcha tvaM bhUto bhUtabhAvanaH|| AdimadhyAntarUpo.asi medhA buddhiH smRRitirbhavAn
तूच काळ आहेस आणि मृत्यूही; तूच अस्तित्व आहेस व भूतांना भावित करणारा. तू आदि-मध्य-अंत स्वरूप; तूच मेधा, बुद्धी व स्मृती आहेस।
Sandhi Notes
- रूपोऽसि→रूपः असि
- स्मृतिर्भवान्→स्मृतिः भवान् (ः + भ → र्भ)
Pṛthivī
Awed, slightly tremulous before kāla/mṛtyu yet reassured by the Lord as bhūta-bhāvana
The Lord is both the limiter (time/death) and the enabler (being-becoming and cognition); all phases—origin, duration, dissolution—are his form.
Contemplate impermanence to reduce attachment; cultivate medhā/buddhi/smṛti as divine gifts through study, japa, and ethical clarity.
Bhū Devi praises Varāha/Viṣṇu as time and death and as the inner faculties sustaining beings—an intimate metaphysical ‘support’ of Earth’s existence.
Varāha/Viṣṇu is the temporal-causal matrix: kāla (time) and mṛtyu (death) that delimit beings, and also the cognitive light (medhā, buddhi, smṛti) by which beings know and remember—suggesting the Lord as both outer cosmic process and inner consciousness-function.
Beginning–middle–end mirrors ritual sequence (dīkṣā–pravṛtti–udavasāna) and cosmic cycles; cognition faculties parallel priestly discernment and mantra-memory sustaining yajña’s correctness.
Antaryāmin and sākṣin themes: the Lord as inner witness enabling cognition, and as kāla that governs saṃsāra; aligns with Gītā’s kāla motif and Upaniṣadic inner ruler doctrine.
Varāha Purāṇa stuti identifications with cosmic principles and inner faculties
FAQs
It encapsulates a Purāṇic synthesis where cosmic forces (time, death) and inner faculties (intellect, memory) are presented within a single metaphysical frame, useful for comparative studies with later Vedāntic and devotional literature.
No geographic location is mentioned; the focus is metaphysical and psychological.
By foregrounding time and death alongside cognition, the verse implicitly encourages reflective discernment and responsible action, though it does not prescribe a specific moral rule.
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