Varaha Purana 2.51: Adhyaya 2, Shloka 51
Cosmogony and the Ninefold Creation: Rudra’s Origin and the Prelude to the Sāvitrī-Veda Narrative
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmological Time (Yuga Framework) and Dharma-Karma Discourse
कृतं त्रेता द्वापरश्च कलिश्चेति चतुर्युगम् । एतस्मिन्ये महासत्त्वा राजानो भूरिदक्षिणाः । देवासुराश्च यं चक्रुर्धर्मं कर्म च तच्छृणु ॥ २.५० ॥
kṛtaṁ tretā dvāparaś ca kaliś ceti caturyugam | etasmin ye mahāsattvā rājāno bhūridakṣiṇāḥ | devāsurāś ca yaṁ cakrur dharmaṁ karma ca tac chṛṇu || 2.50 ||
kRRitaM tretA dvAparashcha kalishcheti chaturyugam | etasmin ye mahAsattvA rAjAno bhUridakShiNAH | devAsurAshcha yaM chakrurdharmaM karma cha tachChRRiNu || 2.50 ||
“Kṛta, Tretā, Dvāpara dan Kali—itulah empat yuga yang membentuk caturyuga. Dalam kitaran ini ada raja-raja berjiwa agung, melimpah dengan pemberian (dakṣiṇā). Dan dharma serta perbuatan ritual (karma) yang ditegakkan oleh para dewa dan asura—dengarkanlah itu.”
Sandhi Notes
- कलिश्चेति = कलिः + च + इति
- एतस्मिन्ये = एतस्मिन् + ये
- देवासुराश्च = देवासुराः + च
- चक्रुर्धर्मं = चक्रुः + धर्मम्
- तच्छृणु = तत् + शृणु
Varāha
Attentive/curious
How do dharma and karma differ across the four yugas, and what did devas and asuras establish?
Dharma and karma are historically/cosmically situated; generosity and yajña are pillars of social-cosmic stability.
Practice dāna and support of sacred rites according to capacity; interpret moral duties with awareness of era and circumstance.
Yajña and dharma are treated as cosmic stabilizers across time; in Varāha’s broader theology, the Lord as Yajña sustains the world-order that yugas modulate.
Implicit yajña-frame: kings ‘bhūri-dakṣiṇā’ mirror the cosmic sacrifice economy; devas/asuras as agents in establishing ritual norms suggests a universe run by sacrificial reciprocity.
Time-conditioned dharma (vyavahāra) operates within māyā/guṇa dynamics, while the sustaining principle (Viṣṇu/Yajña) remains constant beneath yuga-variation.
Dharma is presented as yuga-framed and upheld through royal generosity (dakṣiṇā) and ritual action (karma) established by cosmic powers.
Sustaining dharma through yajña and dāna supports order and merit; neglect implies decline of dharma consistent with yuga-deterioration.
Varāha Purāṇa 2.2.49 (promise of yuga-mahātmya); Varāha Purāṇa 2.2.52 (Priyavrata’s yajñas with dakṣiṇā)
FAQs
It reflects the Purāṇic systematization of time into four yugas (caturyuga), a widely shared framework in early Indian cosmological and historiographical thought used to contextualize shifts in social order and moral norms.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; it is primarily a cosmological and ethical framing statement.
The verse frames dharma and karma as instituted norms worth attentive study, emphasizing listening/learning as the method for understanding the established order of duty and action across cosmic time.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
