Varaha Purana 21.35: Adhyaya 21, Shloka 35
The Disruption of Dakṣa’s Sacrifice, the Hari-Hara Conflict, and the Establishment of Rudra’s Sacrificial Share
Pūrva Bhāga · Rudrāgama / Ritual-Transmission Narrative (contextual classification)
गच्छतस्तस्य देवस्य अम्बराङ्गिरसं नयत् । ऋत्विजां मन्त्रनिचयो नष्टो रुद्रागमे तदा ॥ २१.३६ ॥
gacchatas tasya devasya ambarāṅgirasaṃ nayat | ṛtvijāṃ mantranicayo naṣṭo rudrāgame tadā || 21.36 ||
gachChatastasya devasya ambarA~NgirasaM nayat | RRitvijAM mantranichayo naShTo rudrAgame tadA || 21.36 ||
Gdy bóstwo to podążało, zabrało ze sobą Ambarāṅgirasę; wówczas, w Rudrāgamie, zgubione zostały zebrane mantry kapłanów odprawiających, ṛtvij.
Sandhi Notes
- अम्बराङ्गिरसं = अम्बर + आङ्गिरसम् (स्वर-सन्धि)
- रुद्रागमे = रुद्र + आगमे (स्वर-सन्धि)
Varāha
Sacred knowledge is preserved by ethical order and disciplined custodianship; when dharma fractures, even mantra-treasuries vanish.
Protect learning through proper initiation, careful memorization, communal respect, and conflict-avoidance in ritual spaces; when rupture occurs, seek restoration via guru-guided corrective rites.
Mantra as the ‘operating system’ of yajña: when Rudra’s advent (rudrāgama) occurs amid offence, the mantric order collapses—showing that sound/knowledge is contingent on dharma.
‘Mantra-nicaya’ (mantra-treasury) being ‘naṣṭa’ mirrors a broken yajña-body; the rite loses its ‘speech’ and thus its efficacy.
True power is not mere textual possession; mantra lives through purity, lineage, and right intent—otherwise it becomes ‘lost’ even if words remain.
Loss/corruption of priestly mantra-collections during ritual crisis implies the need for safeguarding transmission and performing expiatory restoration when mantra/rite is broken.
Preserving mantra and restoring broken rites sustains puṇya and lineage; negligence leads to ritual failure, spiritual confusion, and decline of adhikāra.
Continuation of Dakṣa-yajña disruption motif; mantra-loss sets up later restoration/realignment themes typical of Purāṇic yajña narratives
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic motif of textual and ritual transmission—how mantra corpora are preserved, displaced, or lost—useful for studying the history of ritual lineages and the narrative framing of religious knowledge.
No explicit geographic toponym appears in this verse; the focus is on persons (e.g., Ambarāṅgirasa) and a textual/ritual context (Rudrāgama).
Rather than a direct moral injunction, the verse foregrounds the fragility of ritual knowledge and the importance of careful custodianship and continuity in learned traditions.
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