Varaha Purana 82.19: Adhyaya 82, Shloka 19

The Descent of the Rivers: The Sky-Gaṅgā and Her Fourfold Division

Pūrva Bhāga · Sacred Geography & Ethnography (Peoples and lifespans)

Devanagari script

कालाम्रवृक्षाः पुरुषाः श्वेताः पद्मवर्णिनः स्त्रियः कुमुदवर्णा दशवर्षसहस्राणि तेषामायुः ।

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 82.19

Transliteration

kālāmravṛkṣāḥ puruṣāḥ śvetāḥ padmavarṇinaḥ striyaḥ kumudavarṇā daśavarṣasahasrāṇi teṣām āyuḥ

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

Kaum lelaki digambarkan berwarna seperti pohon kālāmra dan juga putih; kaum wanita berwarna seperti teratai, seumpama warna kumuda. Jangka hayat mereka ialah sepuluh ribu tahun.

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Word by Word

• कालाम्रवृक्षाः: black mango trees
• Type: Noun
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine); कर्मधारय-समास: कालाः आम्रवृक्षाः
• Role: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Root: काला + आम्र + वृक्ष (प्रातिपदिक)

• पुरुषाः: men
• Type: Noun
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine)
• Role: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Root: पुरुष (प्रातिपदिक)

• श्वेताः: white
• Type: Adjective
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine); विशेषण (qualifying पुरुषाः)
• Role: विशेषण (Adjectival)
• Root: श्वेत (प्रातिपदिक)

• पद्मवर्णिनः: lotus-colored
• Type: Adjective
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine); तत्पुरुष-समास: पद्मस्य वर्णः यस्य (padma-colored)
• Role: विशेषण (Adjectival)
• Root: पद्म + वर्णिन् (प्रातिपदिक)

• स्त्रियः: women
• Type: Noun
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine)
• Role: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Root: स्त्री (प्रातिपदिक)

• कुमुदवर्णाः: water-lily-colored
• Type: Adjective
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), स्त्रीलिङ्ग (Feminine); तत्पुरुष-समास: कुमुदस्य वर्णः (qualifying स्त्रियः)
• Role: विशेषण (Adjectival)
• Root: कुमुद + वर्ण (प्रातिपदिक)

• दशवर्षसहस्राणि: ten thousand years (lit. ten-year-thousands)
• Type: Noun
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), बहुवचन (Plural), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter); द्विगु-समास (numerical): दश वर्षसहस्राणि
• Role: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Root: दश + वर्ष + सहस्र (प्रातिपदिक)

• तेषाम्: of them
• Type: Noun
• Form: षष्ठी (6th/Genitive), बहुवचन (Plural), पुंलिङ्ग (Masculine/Pronoun)
• Role: सम्बन्ध (Genitive relation)
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम/प्रातिपदिक)

• आयुः: lifespan
• Type: Noun
• Form: प्रथमा (1st/Nominative), एकवचन (Singular), नपुंसकलिङ्ग (Neuter)
• Role: कर्ता (Subject/कर्ता)
• Root: आयुस् (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• तेषामायुः → तेषाम् + आयुः (म् + आ)

Speaker and setting

Adbhuta and Shanta rasa

Speaker

Varāha

The teaching

Path

Cosmological Anthropology

Subjects

GeographyCosmologyCultural Anthropology

Core idea

Human embodiment and lifespan vary according to cosmic region and its governing qualities (guna/kalpa-order)

In practice

Cultivate humility and perspective: one’s norms are local; dharma is to be understood with awareness of place, time, and cosmic scale

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Ethnography
• Ancient Geography
• Descriptive Poetics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It exemplifies Purāṇic ethnographic description, using botanical and floral color terms to characterize inhabitants and to signal cosmological time-scales via extraordinary lifespans.

Which geographic location is identified?

No single modern location is specified; the verse continues a mytho-geographic description of peoples associated with a named region in the chapter’s cosmography.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The passage is descriptive rather than prescriptive; it implicitly conveys a worldview where human communities are understood in relation to natural imagery (trees, lotuses), linking culture and environment.