Varaha Purana 176.41 — Adhyaya 176, Shloka 41
The Māhātmya of Kṛṣṇagaṅgodbhava, Kāliñjara, and the Five Sacred Baths: The Tale of Pāñcāla and Tilottamā
ब्रह्मघ्नश्च सुरापश्च स्त्रीघ्नश्च गुरुतल्पगः ॥ अगम्यागमनं कृत्वा एषां स समतामियात् ॥
brahmaghnaś ca surāpaś ca strīghnaś ca gurutalpagaḥ || agamyāgamanaṃ kṛtvā eṣāṃ sa samatām iyāt ||
One who has intercourse with a forbidden woman becomes equal in status (of culpability) to a slayer of a brāhmaṇa, a drinker of intoxicants, a slayer of a woman, and one who violates the teacher’s bed.
Varāha (default, speaker not explicit in excerpt)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"prayaschitta","instruction_summary":"Agamya-agamana (sexual intercourse with a forbidden woman) is declared a mahāpātaka, equated in culpability with brahmahatyā, surāpāna, strī-vadha, and guru-talpa-gamana.","karmic_consequence":"Incurs mahāpātaka-level demerit, implying severe sin, social/religious fall, and the need for heavy expiation; neglect leads to continued impurity and painful post-mortem consequences."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"dharma-ethics (niyama/varjana)","core_concept":"Adharma in sexuality is not a private act but a cosmic-ritual breach that collapses purity and social order, hence its equation with the gravest sins.","practical_application":"Maintain strict boundaries of permissible relations; if transgressed, seek qualified guidance for expiation and restore conduct through restraint, truthfulness, and reparative acts (dāna/tapas as prescribed)."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Dharma-śāstra","Social Norms"]
Primary Rasa: bhayanaka
Secondary Rasa: bibhatsa
Type: None
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 176 (Dharma discourse on sins and remedial conduct; immediate narrative context continues with dāna and purification)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Varāha as dharma-teacher delivering a stern injunction about forbidden intercourse, with symbolic silhouettes of the four great sins as cautionary emblems.","item_prompts":["Varāha in regal/ascetic teaching posture","palm-leaf manuscript or dharma-śāstra scroll","four emblematic panels: brāhmaṇa-slayer, wine-cup, slain woman, violated guru’s bed","somber court/āśrama setting"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural style: Varāha with calm but severe expression, bold outlines, flat jewel-tones; dharma-scroll in hand; four sin-emblems in corner medallions.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore style: central Varāha teacher with gold-leaf halo and ornate frame; miniature icon-panels of the four mahāpātakas around him.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore style: delicate linework, muted palette; Varāha seated, didactic gesture (vyākhyāna-mudrā), manuscript and lamp; subtle moral tableau behind.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari style: hillside āśrama court; Varāha instructing sages; narrative vignettes of the four sins in small registers, expressive faces and restrained color."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"grave, admonitory","suggested_raga":"Bhairavi","pace":"measured","voice_tone":"firm, low, didactic"}
FAQs
It demonstrates how Purāṇic texts often incorporate Dharma-śāstra categories (mahāpātaka-like offenses) into narrative and didactic contexts.
No location is specified here; the verse is an ethical classification.
Illicit intercourse with a prohibited partner is framed as comparable to other paradigmatic ‘great sins’ in the normative ethical vocabulary.
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