Varaha Purana 39.60: Adhyaya 39, Shloka 60
Discrimination of the Three Bodies and the Dharaṇī Vow: A Manual for Dvādaśī Observance
Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-śāstric Instruction (Vows and Ethical Intent)
यदि वक्त्रसहस्राणि भवन्ति मम सुव्रत । आयुश्च ब्रह्मणस्तुल्यं भवेद्यदि महाव्रत ॥ ३९.६० ॥
yadi vaktrasahasrāṇi bhavanti mama suvrata | āyuś ca brahmaṇas tulyaṃ bhaved yadi mahāvrata || 39.60 ||
yadi vaktrasahastrANi bhavanti mama suvrata | Ayushcha brahmaNastulyaM bhaved yadi mahAvrata || 39.60 ||
ହେ ସୁବ୍ରତ, ଯଦି ମୋର ହଜାର ମୁଖ ଥାଏ, ଏବଂ ହେ ମହାବ୍ରତ, ଯଦି ମୋର ଆୟୁ ବ୍ରହ୍ମାଙ୍କ ସମାନ ହୋଇଯାଏ ମଧ୍ୟ—
Sandhi Notes
- वक्त्रसहस्राणि = वक्त्र + सहस्राणि (समास)
- आयुश्च = आयुः + च
- भवेद्यदि = भवेत् + यदि
Varāha
Dharma’s fruits can exceed ordinary description; trust in śāstra and disciplined practice is warranted even when outcomes are beyond full narration.
Maintain commitment to the vow without demanding exhaustive enumeration of benefits; focus on faithful observance.
The speaker’s hyperbole (thousand mouths, Brahmā’s lifespan) signals the immeasurable scale of dharma-phala, reflecting Purāṇic cosmology where merit accrues across vast time.
Implicit cosmic scale: speech capacity and lifespan expand to cosmic proportions, paralleling yajña’s claim to connect finite acts with vast results.
Points to the limitation of language/time in capturing karmic causality; encourages śraddhā in dharma beyond complete conceptual grasp.
Fruit is portrayed as so vast that even with a thousand mouths and Brahmā-like lifespan it is hard to fully narrate (hyperbolic magnitude).
Varāha Purāṇa 39.39.61 (will describe in outline)
FAQs
It exemplifies a common Purāṇic rhetorical strategy—hyperbolic conditions (many mouths, Brahmā-like lifespan) used to frame the limits or magnitude of what can be expressed, reflecting classical Sanskrit oral-aural literary culture.
No geographic location is named in this verse fragment; it functions as a rhetorical preface rather than a site-description.
The verse addresses a disciplined interlocutor (suvrata/mahāvrata), foregrounding the value of vow-based self-regulation; the ethical emphasis is on disciplined conduct as the context for receiving instruction.
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