Varaha Purana 39.34: Adhyaya 39, Shloka 34
Discrimination of the Three Bodies and the Dharaṇī Vow: A Manual for Dvādaśī Observance
Pūrva Bhāga · Prāyaścitta and Ritual Purification (Mṛttikā-dhāraṇa context)
आनीय मृत्तिकां शुद्धां मन्त्रेणानेन मानवः । धारणं पोषणं त्वत्तो भूतानां देवि सर्वदा । तेन सत्येन मे पापं यावन्मोचय सुव्रते ॥ ३९.३४ ॥
ānīya mṛttikāṃ śuddhāṃ mantreṇānena mānavaḥ | dhāraṇaṃ poṣaṇaṃ tvatto bhūtānāṃ devi sarvadā | tena satyena me pāpaṃ yāvanmocaya suvrate || 39.34 ||
AnIya mRRittikAM shuddhAM mantreNAnena mAnavaH | dhAraNaM poShaNaM tvatto bhUtAnAM devi sarvadA | tena satyena me pApaM yAvanmochaya suvrate || 39.34 ||
Dengan membawa tanah yang suci dan melafazkan mantra ini, seseorang menyatakan: “Penopang dan pemelihara segala makhluk sentiasa datang daripada-Mu, wahai Dewi. Demi kebenaran itu, wahai yang berikrar mulia, lepaskanlah aku daripada dosa sejauh yang masih berbaki.”
Sandhi Notes
- मन्त्रेणानेन = मन्त्रेण + अनेन
- त्वत्तो = त्वत् + तः
- यावन्मोचय = यावत् + मोचय (final -t assimilates in recitation)
Mānava (ritual speaker addressing Devī/Pṛthivī)
Revered as sustaining, invoked as purifier; implicitly compassionate witness to sin and release
By the truth that you sustain and nourish all beings, please release me from remaining sin—how may my impurity be removed through your sanctity?
Because all embodied life is sustained by Earth, reverent acknowledgment and truthful speech become a means of moral purification.
Use natural resources (soil) with restraint and reverence; pair external cleansing with inner truthfulness and gratitude.
Direct address to Earth as Devī; acknowledging her sustaining power while using her clay for purification.
Earth (Pṛthivī) is invoked as the universal support (ādhāra) and nourisher (poṣaṇa); purification arises by aligning speech with cosmic truth (satya) and recognizing the body’s dependence on bhūta-mātṛ.
The ‘pure earth’ functions like a ritual medium (lepana/mṛd) that absorbs impurity; satya-vāk acts as the consecrating mantra—echoing yajña where substance + mantra together effect śuddhi.
A dharmic-advaitic note: sin (pāpa) is attenuated by satya and right recognition of one’s dependence on the sustaining order (ṛta/dharma) embodied by Earth.
For purification, bring clean earth/clay and recite a truth-formula (satyavacana) praising Earth as sustainer, requesting release from sin.
Truthful invocation with pure earth supports expiation and purification; careless use/impure earth or insincere speech weakens the prayāścitta.
Varāha Purāṇa 39.39.35-36 (touching clay; water/Varuṇa purification)
FAQs
It preserves a ritual formula linking purification practices (use of mṛttikā, “earth/clay”) with a moral claim grounded in ‘truth’ (satya), reflecting Purāṇic integration of ritual, ethics, and cosmological personification of Earth.
No specific place-name appears in this verse; the address is to Devī as the universal Earth principle rather than a localized tīrtha.
The verse frames moral purification as grounded in acknowledging Earth’s sustaining role (dhāraṇa, poṣaṇa) and appealing to truth (satya) as the basis for removing impurity or wrongdoing.
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