Varaha Purana 39.8: Adhyaya 39, Shloka 8
Discrimination of the Three Bodies and the Dharaṇī Vow: A Manual for Dvādaśī Observance
Pūrva Bhāga · Mokṣa–Dharma (Soteriological Ethics)
यदा पञ्च पुनः पञ्च पञ्च पञ्चापि संत्यजेत् । एकमार्गस्तदा ब्रह्म शाश्वतं लभते नरः ॥ ३९.८ ॥
yadā pañca punaḥ pañca pañca pañcāpi saṃtyajet | ekamārgas tadā brahma śāśvataṃ labhate naraḥ || 39.8 ||
yadA pa~ncha punaH pa~ncha pa~ncha pa~nchApi saMtyajet | ekamArgastadA brahma shAshvataM labhate naraH || 39.8 ||
जेव्हा मनुष्य ‘पाच’, पुन्हा ‘पाच’ आणि ‘पाचांचे पाच’ हेही पूर्णपणे त्यागतो, तेव्हा एकमार्गी एकाग्र होऊन तो शाश्वत ब्रह्म प्राप्त करतो.
Sandhi Notes
- pañcāpi = pañca + api
- ekamārgas = eka-mārgaḥ (visarga sandhi before tadā)
Varāha
Liberation arises from abandoning layered pentads of attachment and becoming one-pointed on the single liberating path, culminating in eternal Brahman.
Practice sense-withdrawal and disidentification: reduce dependence on sense-objects, regulate prāṇa and indriyas, and relinquish subtle egoic patterns; maintain ekāgratā through japa/dhyāna on Brahman/Viṣṇu.
The triple ‘five’ points to layered renunciations: gross (pañca-bhūta / five sense-objects), subtle (five senses / five prāṇas), and causal (fivefold mental functions or pañcīkaraṇa-related entanglements). The ‘single path’ (eka-mārga) is ekāgratā culminating in Brahman-realization—Varāha’s mokṣa-teaching framed as progressive deconstruction of multiplicity into unity.
Implicit: abandoning ‘fives’ resembles withdrawing offerings from the five fires/senses and placing them into the one inner fire (antar-agni) of awareness; the ‘one path’ is the single oblation (eka-havis) of mind into Brahman.
Neti-neti by strata: discard identification with gross, subtle, and causal sheaths (kośa-like layering) until only Brahman remains; ‘eka-mārga’ aligns with one-pointed nididhyāsana and non-dual abidance.
Varāha Purāṇa 39.39.7 (transcending the ‘octad’ to stabilize in the Self); Varāha Purāṇa 39.39.9 (question on how Brahman is apprehended)
FAQs
It reflects a common Purāṇic strategy of compressing Sāṃkhya–Yoga style renunciatory categories into mnemonic numerical groupings, indicating the text’s engagement with broader classical Indian philosophical vocabulary.
No geographic location is named in this verse; the focus is on inner discipline and liberation-oriented renunciation.
The verse presents a philosophical instruction of disciplined renunciation—abandoning enumerated attachments or constituents—and cultivating one-pointed commitment to a single liberating path culminating in realization of the eternal Brahman.
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