Varaha Purana 200.75: Adhyaya 200, Shloka 75

Description of the Forms of Infernal Torments

Naraka Yātanās

Devanagari script

ततः शूलवहो नाम पर्वतः शतयोजनः ॥ निराश्रयः स सत्त्वानामेकपाषाण एव च ॥

Sanskrit recitationVaraha Purana 200.75

Transliteration

tataḥ śūlavaho nāma parvataḥ śata-yojanaḥ || nirāśrayaḥ sa sattvānām eka-pāṣāṇa eva ca ||

Translation

Then there is a mountain named Śūlavaha, a hundred yojanas (in extent); it offers no refuge for beings, and it is made of a single mass of stone.

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Word by Word

• tataḥ: then, thereafter
• tataḥ: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; ततोऽर्थे (ablatival adverb: then/from there)

• śūlavahaḥ: spike-bearing
• śūlavahaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śūla (प्रातिपदिक) + vaha (प्रातिपदिक; √vah)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; उपपद-तत्पुरुष: शूलं वहति इति (bearing spikes)

• nāma: named
• nāma: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: nāma (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; नाम-निपात (quotative/‘by name’)

• parvataḥ: mountain
• parvataḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: parvata (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन

• śata-yojanaḥ: a hundred yojanas (in extent)
• śata-yojanaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śata (प्रातिपदिक) + yojana (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; द्विगु-समास (numerical): शतं योजनानि यस्य/परिमाणम्

• nirāśrayaḥ: without refuge/support
• nirāśrayaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: nir (उपसर्ग) + āśraya (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; कर्मधारय: निर्-आश्रयः = without support/shelter

• saḥ: that (mountain), it
• saḥ: Karta (कर्ता/subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; सर्वनाम

• sattvānām: of beings/creatures
• sattvānām: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sattva (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग; षष्ठी (6th/Genitive); बहुवचन

• eka-pāṣāṇaḥ: a single solid rock
• eka-pāṣāṇaḥ: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: eka (प्रातिपदिक) + pāṣāṇa (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग; प्रथमा; एकवचन; कर्मधारय: एकः पाषाणः (made of a single rock / one solid stone)

• eva: indeed, just
• eva: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: eva (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारण-निपात

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयबोधक

Speaker

Varāha (default dialogic frame; speaker not explicit in excerpt)

Tags

• Purāṇic Literature
• Mythic Topography
• Sanskrit Philology
• Indian Eschatology

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

The verse contributes to Purāṇic ‘otherworld geography’ catalogs, valuable for mapping how texts narrativize moral consequence through landscape.

Which geographic location is identified?

Śūlavaha is an otherworldly mountain-name within the punitive itinerary; it is not a securely attested historical mountain in terrestrial geography.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The absence of refuge (nirāśraya) intensifies the cautionary frame: ethical lapses are depicted as leading to isolation and inescapability.