Varaha Purana 133.3: Adhyaya 133, Shloka 3
Expiations for ritual-time impurity and the offense of defecation/urination in a sacred context
Pūrva Bhāga · Prāyaścitta and Karma-Discipline (Dialogue of Varāha and Pṛthivī)
एष वै तापनं देवि मोहनं मम सांप्रतम् ॥ यो वै शास्त्रं विजानाति मम कर्मपरायणः ॥
eṣa vai tāpanaṃ devi mohanaṃ mama sāṃpratam || yo vai śāstraṃ vijānāti mama karmaparāyaṇaḥ ||
eSha vai tApanaM devi mohanaM mama sAMpratam || yo vai shAstraM vijAnAti mama karmaparAyaNaH
Wahai Dewi, inilah ajaran-Ku pada masa ini, yang sekaligus menegur dengan panas tapa dan juga menimbulkan kemabukan moha; sesiapa yang benar-benar memahami śāstra dan berpegang teguh pada disiplin karma yang Aku tetapkan.
Sandhi Notes
- eṣa → eṣaḥ (visarga before vai)
- karmaparāyaṇaḥ is a tatpuruṣa compound (karma+parāyaṇa)
Varāha
Reflective; challenged to discern true teaching amid ‘mohana’
How should one rightly understand śāstra and align action (karma) with the Lord’s discipline so that chastening instruction does not become delusion?
Śāstra-jñāna must be joined to īśvara-arpita karma (action devoted to the Lord); otherwise instruction can be misread under mohana (bewilderment).
Study śāstra with humility; seek a disciplined routine of expiation and right conduct; dedicate actions to the Lord to avoid self-serving interpretations.
Direct address to Bhū-devī (‘देवि’): Varāha frames his instruction as simultaneously ‘tāpana’ (chastening) and ‘mohana’ (bewildering), emphasizing śāstra-knowledge and devotion to his karmic discipline.
Varāha as the Lord of māyā and discipline: ‘mohana’ signals the world’s bewildering power under Īśvara, while ‘tāpana’ signals tapas-like purification; śāstra is the navigational light through māyā.
Implicit: the Lord’s ‘karma’ as yajña-ordered action; devotion to his karmic ordinance aligns the agent with cosmic sacrifice rather than egoic desire.
Māyā and viveka: the same divine power that veils (mohana) also reveals through śāstra and disciplined karma-yoga; devotion stabilizes discernment.
True prāyaścitta and dharma require śāstra-jñāna and steadfast commitment to the Lord’s prescribed karma; the teaching disciplines (tāpana) and tests discernment (mohana).
Understanding and practicing as instructed leads to purification and right order; misunderstanding (taking ‘mohana’ as license) leads to continued bondage and error.
Varāha Purāṇa ch.133 (closing/transition statement grounding prāyaścitta in śāstra-jñāna and devotion)
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic strategy of framing ethical discipline through dialogue, using śāstra-authority and prescribed observances as a means to regulate conduct.
No specific geographic toponym appears in this verse fragment.
The verse foregrounds adherence to śāstra and disciplined observance (karma-parāyaṇatā) as the defining mark of proper practice.
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