Varaha Purana 151.48: Adhyaya 151, Shloka 48
The Sacred Greatness of Lohārgala
The ‘Iron-Bolt’ Tīrtha
Uttara Bhāga · Tīrtha-Māhātmya (Hydrology, Ritual Bathing, and Vow-Time)
भूमिं नीत्वा जलं तत्र तिष्ठत्येव वरानने ॥ तत्र स्नानं प्रकुर्वीत चाष्टकालोषितो नरः
bhūmiṃ nītvā jalaṃ tatra tiṣṭhatyeva varānane || tatra snānaṃ prakurvīta cāṣṭakāloṣito naraḥ
bhUmiM nItvA jalaM tatra tiShThatyeva varAnane || tatra snAnaM prakurvIta chAShTakAloShito naraH
Przyniósłszy wodę na ziemię, ona tam pozostaje, o pięknolica. Człowiek, który zachował okres ośmiu razy, powinien tam wykonać kąpiel.
Sandhi Notes
- तिष्ठत्येव → तिष्ठति एव
- चाष्टकालोषितो → च अष्ट-काल-उषितः
Varāha
Curious; being addressed intimately (‘O fair-faced one’)
What is the ritual procedure and qualification (aṣṭa-kāla observance) for bathing at this water-on-earth miracle site?
External observance (niyama) and sacred bathing symbolize and support internal purification and stability.
Undertake disciplined timing/observance before pilgrimage rites; treat water and earth as sacred, performing snāna with restraint and intention.
Direct address to Earth as ‘varānane’; instruction about water remaining upon the ground at the site
Water ‘brought onto earth’ and ‘standing’ evokes the restoration/stabilization of Bhū by divine order—ritual water becomes a microcosm of cosmic re-grounding.
Snāna as purification rite: water as āpaḥ (primordial waters) made to ‘stand’ on bhūmi like a consecrated vedi; the site functions as a living altar where āpaḥ and pṛthivī are harmonized.
Purification (śuddhi) as preparation for knowledge; the stable water-on-earth motif suggests sattva-sthāpanā—mind made steady through niyama and tīrtha-snāna.
One who has observed the ‘eight-times’ discipline (aṣṭa-kāla) should bathe at that spot where water is ritually brought onto the ground and remains.
Properly qualified bathing yields tīrtha-puṇya and supports the promised loka-fruit in the surrounding verses; unqualified/irreverent use diminishes merit.
Eligibility for efficacious tīrtha-snāna and consequent merit leading toward higher loka attainment (as per the loka-phala sequence).
Varāha Purāṇa 151.53.0 (Agnisara-kunda named); Varāha Purāṇa 151.55.0 (loka-fruit after observance and prāṇa-tyāga)
FAQs
It preserves a micro-description of a water feature’s behavior (water ‘remaining’ on the ground), typical of how Purāṇic tīrtha texts encode landscape memory and ritual timing together.
The verse refers to the same tīrtha setting as the named kuṇḍa sequence; it describes a place where water is said to remain after being brought onto the ground.
Observe a defined discipline of time/period (aṣṭa-kāla) and then undertake bathing—linking self-regulation with respectful interaction with a water-site.
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