Varaha Purana 21.11: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 11

The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share

Pūrva Bhāga · Dakṣa–Sati Narrative (Genealogy and Ritual Context)

Devanagari script

सा च दाक्षायणी देवी पुनर्भूता नृपोत्तम । ततो दक्षः प्रहृष्टात्मा दौहित्रान् स्वान् स वृद्धिकृत् । दृष्ट्वा यज्ञम् अथारेभे प्रीणनाय प्रजापतिः ॥ २१.१२ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 21.11

Transliteration

sā ca dākṣāyaṇī devī punarbhūtā nṛpottama | tato dakṣaḥ prahṛṣṭātmā dauhitrān svān sa vṛddhikṛt | dṛṣṭvā yajñam athārebhe prīṇanāya prajāpatiḥ || 21.12 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

ထိုဒေဝီ ဒက္ခာယဏီသည် ထပ်မံမွေးဖွားလာ၏၊ အို မင်းမြတ်။ ထို့နောက် ဒက္ခသည် စိတ်ပျော်ရွှင်၍ မိမိ၏ မြေးများကို မြင်ကာ သူတို့၏ တိုးပွားမှုကို မြှင့်တင်သူဖြစ်လျက်၊ ပရာဇာပတိအဖြစ် အားလုံးကို ကျေနပ်စေရန် ယဇ်ပူဇော်ပွဲကို စတင်하였다။

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Word by Word

• sā: she
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Samuccaya/conjunction (समुच्चय)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• dākṣāyaṇī: Dākṣāyaṇī (daughter of Dakṣa)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; proper epithet
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: dākṣāyaṇī (प्रातिपदिक; patronymic from dakṣa)

• devī: goddess
• Type: Noun
• Form: Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: devī (प्रातिपदिक)

• punarbhūtā: was reborn / became again
• Type: Verb
• Form: Kṛdanta PPP (क्त), Strīliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; ‘become again/reborn’
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: punar + bhū (भू धातु) + kta (क्त)

• nṛpottama: O best of kings
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/voc.), Ekavacana; address
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: nṛpa + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)

• tataḥ: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya adverb (अव्यय), indicating sequence
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: tataḥ (अव्यय)

• dakṣaḥ: Dakṣa
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: dakṣa (प्रातिपदिक)

• prahṛṣṭātmā: whose mind was delighted
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; bahuvrīhi qualifying dakṣaḥ
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: prahṛṣṭa + ātman (प्रातिपदिक)

• dauhitrān: grandsons (daughter’s sons)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Dvitīyā vibhakti (द्वितीया/acc.), Bahuvacana (बहुवचन)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: dauhitra (प्रातिपदिक)

• svān: his own
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Dvitīyā, Bahuvacana; viśeṣaṇa of dauhitrān
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: sva (प्रातिपदिक)

• saḥ: he
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; refers to dakṣaḥ
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• vṛddhikṛt: promoter of prosperity
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; agent-noun ‘maker of increase’, qualifying saḥ
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: vṛddhi + kṛt (कृ धातु + कृत्)

• dṛṣṭvā: having seen
• Type: Verb
• Form: Absolutive/gerund (क्त्वान्त), ‘having seen’
• Role: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Root: dṛś (दृश् धातु) + ktvā (क्त्वा)

• yajñam: the sacrifice
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Dvitīyā, Ekavacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: yajña (प्रातिपदिक)

• atha: then
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya (sequence marker)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: atha (अव्यय)

• ārebhe: began
• Type: Verb
• Form: Liṭ lakāra (लिट्/perfect), Prathama puruṣa (प्रथम), Ekavacana; parasmaipada
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: rabh (रभ् धातु) with ā-; perfect

• prīṇanāya: for pleasing
• Type: Noun
• Form: Napुṁsakaliṅga (नपुंसक), Caturthī (चतुर्थी/dat.) used as purpose (प्रयोजन-दत्तिव)
• Role: Prayojana (प्रयोजन)
• Root: prīṇana (प्रातिपदिक; from prīṇ/प्रिण्)

• prajāpatiḥ: the Prajāpati
• Type: Noun
• Form: Puṁliṅga, Prathamā, Ekavacana; apposition to dakṣaḥ
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: prajāpati (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• nṛpottama = nṛpa + uttama
• prahṛṣṭātmā (bahuvrīhi)
• ārebhe is liṭ of ā-rabh
• prīṇanāya = purpose dative

Speaker and setting

Shanta rasaSetting: Yajña-vedi / ritual arena

Speaker

Varāha

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Karma-yoga / ritual-ethics

Subjects

GenealogyRitual Culture (Yajña)Puranic Narrative

Core idea

Ritual action (yajña) functions as a stabilizer of cosmic-social continuity, linking rebirth, progeny, and divine satisfaction.

In practice

Treat communal rites and offerings as duties that sustain collective well-being; align personal joy (prahṛṣṭa) with dharmic action rather than mere possession.

Dharma

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Studies
• Sanskrit Narrative
• Ritual Studies

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a common Purāṇic narrative pattern linking lineage (rebirth and descendants) with ritual legitimacy, presenting yajña as a central cultural institution managed by Prajāpati figures such as Dakṣa.

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific geographic site is named in this verse; the focus is genealogical and ritual rather than topographical.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Implicitly, the verse frames social continuity (family lineage) and public ritual action (yajña) as means of maintaining order and communal well-being, without prescribing sectarian superiority.