Varaha Purana 142.3: Adhyaya 142, Shloka 3
The Greatness of Esoteric Practice: Menstrual Impurity, Mental Equanimity, and Seasonal Conjugal Ethics
Uttara Bhāga · Guhyakarma-māhātmya (Ritual/ethical guidance; purity and conduct)
अल्पप्राणबलाः नार्यः यत्त्वया परिभाषितम् ॥ अशक्ताः सहितुं ह्येताः क्षुधात्वनशनेऽबलाः ॥
alpaprāṇabalā nāryo yattvayā paribhāṣitam || aśaktāḥ sahituṃ hyetāḥ kṣudhātvanaśane'balāḥ ||
alpaprANabalA nAryo yattvayA paribhAShitam || ashaktAH sahituM hyetAH kShudhAtvanashane.abalAH
Kaum wanita memiliki kekuatan jasmani yang terbatas; apa yang telah Engkau nyatakan itu tidak mampu mereka tanggung. Dilemahkan oleh lapar dan ketiadaan makanan, mereka tidak dapat menahannya.
Sandhi Notes
- यत्त्वया = यत् त्वया
- क्षुधात्वनशनेऽबलाः = क्षुधा तु अनशने अबलाः (’ = अ)
Pṛthivī (Dharaṇī/Vasundharā)
Concerned, protective, socially attentive; advocating mercy
Should dharma/austerity prescriptions be moderated according to bodily capacity—especially for women weakened by hunger and lack of food?
Dharma is not one-size-fits-all; embodied limitation (deha-bala) conditions rightful practice.
When prescribing fasting/penance, adjust to age, health, gendered burdens, and access to food; prioritize sustaining life and duty.
Earth raises a compassionate objection to Varaha’s prior statement, arguing from women’s limited physical capacity for austerity/fasting.
Austerities and observances must be proportionate to strength (śakti); prescriptions that cause harmful starvation are not universally bearable.
Following capacity-based dharma supports steadiness in duty; imposing/undertaking excessive austerity risks physical harm and dharma-break through collapse or resentment.
Varāha Purāṇa 142.4 (food as grace sustaining karma); Varāha Purāṇa 142.6 (Varaha affirms and teaches the ‘guhya’ for devotees)
FAQs
It preserves a textual rationale for adapting discipline/observance to bodily capacity—an important theme in dharma literature where universal rules are often moderated by context.
No geographic site is named; the focus is on embodied practice and social conditions.
Norms of practice should consider physical capacity and the harms of deprivation; endurance is not assumed to be uniform across persons.
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