Varaha Purana 145.3: Adhyaya 145, Shloka 3

The Greatness of the Śālagrāma Sacred Region

Uttara Bhāga · Śālagrāma-kṣetra-māhātmya (Sacred Geography Narrative)

Devanagari script

अभिन्नमतुलच्छायं विशालं पुष्पितं तथा ॥ मनोज्ञं च सुगन्धं च देवानामपि दुर्लभम् ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 145.3

Transliteration

abhinna-matula-cchāyaṃ viśālaṃ puṣpitaṃ tathā || mano-jñaṃ ca su-gandhaṃ ca devānām api durlabham ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

Było ono nienaruszone w formie, o cieniu nieporównywalnym, rozległe i również w pełni kwitnienia; miłe dla umysłu i pachnące, coś trudnego do uzyskania nawet dla bogów.

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Word by Word

• abhinna-matula-cchāyam: having unbroken, incomparable shade
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; multi-member कर्मधारय describing ‘sālam’: ‘abhinnaṃ atulaṃ chāyā yasya/ yathā’ → ‘with unbroken, incomparable shade’
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण of sālam)
• Root: abhinna + atula + chāyā (प्रातिपदिक)

• viśālam: vast
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; agreeing with implied ‘sālam’
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: viśāla (प्रातिपदिक)

• puṣpitam: in bloom
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Past participial adjective (क्त), Masculine Accusative Singular; ‘flowering’
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: puṣpita (प्रातिपदिक; from √puṣp)

• tathā: also/likewise
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (तथार्थक)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/adverbial)
• Root: tathā (अव्यय)

• mano-jñam: mind-pleasing
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; तत्पुरुष: ‘manaḥ jānāti/rañjayati iti’ → pleasing to the mind
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: manas + jña (प्रातिपदिक)

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

• su-gandham: fragrant
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; कर्मधारय: ‘sundaraḥ gandhaḥ yasya’
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: su + gandha (प्रातिपदिक)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya, conjunction
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• devānām: of the gods
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Genitive (षष्ठी) Plural (बहुवचन)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/possessor)
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)

• api: even
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya, particle (अपि = even/also)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/particle)
• Root: api (अव्यय)

• durlabham: rare to obtain
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Masculine Accusative Singular; agreeing with implied ‘sālam’
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: durlabha (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• abhinna-matula-cchāyaṃ: atula + chāyām → atula-cchāyām (cch from sandhi)

Speaker and setting

Adbhuta and Shanta rasaSetting: Vṛkṣa-tīrtha / vana

Speaker

Varāha

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Aesthetics as upāya (sacred perception)

Subjects

Sacred FloraAesthetic DescriptionSacred GeographyEnvironmental Imagery

Core idea

The purified mind recognizes sacredness through signs—wholeness (abhinna), sheltering shade, fragrance, and bloom—indicating puṇya and presence.

In practice

Cultivate attentive seeing (sūkṣma-darśana): treat beauty and harmony in nature as prompts for gratitude, restraint, and remembrance of the divine.

The Varaha avatara

Aspect

Dialogue

Symbolism of the boar

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Poetics
• Sacred Ecology
• Ancient Geography

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

Such descriptive cataloguing (shade, size, blossoms, fragrance) is typical of māhātmya literature, linking natural features to a site’s remembered sanctity.

Which geographic location is identified?

No new place-name appears; the description contributes to the literary topography of Śālagrāma-kṣetra by highlighting a distinctive tree.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Implicitly, it valorizes attentive perception of the natural world within sacred geography, aligning environmental features with cultural heritage.