Varaha Purana 39.62: Adhyaya 39, Shloka 62

Discrimination of the Three Bodies and the Dharaṇī Vow: A Manual for Dvādaśī Observance

Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmological Time-Reckoning (Yuga-Māna)

Devanagari script

दश सप्त दश द्वे च अष्टौ चत्वार एव च । लक्षायुतानि चत्वारि एकस्थं स्याच्चतुर्युगम् ॥ ३९.६२ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 39.62

Transliteration

daśa sapta daśa dve ca aṣṭau catvāra eva ca | lakṣāyutāni catvāri ekasthaṃ syāc caturyugam || 39.62 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

Dziesięć, siedemnaście, dziesięć, dwa; oraz osiem i cztery zaprawdę - te cztery grupy 'lakśa' i 'ajuta' razem tworzą jedno caturjugę (zestaw czterech jug).

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Word by Word

• daśa: ten
• Type: Noun
• Form: संख्यावाचक; अव्ययवत्/अविकारी (indeclinable-like numeral)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: daśa (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• sapta: seven
• Type: Noun
• Form: संख्यावाचक; अव्ययवत्/अविकारी
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: sapta (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• daśa: ten
• Type: Noun
• Form: संख्यावाचक; अव्ययवत्/अविकारी
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: daśa (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• dve: two
• Type: Noun
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग/नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, द्विवचन (dual)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: dvi (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)
• Role: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• aṣṭau: eight
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, द्विवचन
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: aṣṭa (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• catvāraḥ: four
• Type: Noun
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा (1st), बहुवचन (plural)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: catvāri (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• eva: indeed; just
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; अवधारणार्थक निपात (emphatic particle)
• Role: Avadhāraṇa (अवधारण)
• Root: eva (अव्यय)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: अव्यय; समुच्चयार्थक निपात (conjunction)
• Role: Samuccaya (समुच्चय)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• lakṣa-ayutāni: (so many) tens-of-thousands of lakhs
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन; षष्ठी-तत्पुरुषः (lakṣasya ayutāni = tens-of-thousands of a lakh)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: lakṣa (प्रातिपदिक) + ayuta (प्रातिपदिक)

• catvāri: four
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, बहुवचन
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: catvāri (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक)

• eka-stham: placed as one unit; combined into one
• Type: Adjective
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (ekasmin stham = placed in one unit/position)
• Role: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Root: eka (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक) + stha (स्थ धातु से कृत्/प्रातिपदिक)

• syāt: would be; becomes
• Type: Verb
• Form: विधिलिङ् (optative), प्रथमपुरुष, एकवचन; परस्मैपद
• Role: Kriya (क्रिया)
• Root: as (अस् धातु)

• catur-yugam: a four-yuga cycle (caturyuga)
• Type: Noun
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; तत्पुरुषः (caturṇāṃ yugānāṃ samāhāraḥ/सम्बन्धः)
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: catur (संख्याशब्द-प्रातिपदिक) + yuga (प्रातिपदिक)

Sandhi Notes

• syāc caturyugam → syāt + caturyugam (t + c → cch)
• lakṣāyutāni treated as tatpuruṣa compound lakṣa+ayuta

Speaker and setting

Shanta and Adbhuta rasaSetting: Cosmic/temporal schema

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Curious

What she asks

How is a caturyuga computed from the component numerical units (lakṣa/ayuta) in Purāṇic time-reckoning?

The teaching

Path

Cosmology/time

Subjects

CosmologyTime ReckoningPhilosophy of Cycles

Core idea

Caturyuga is a single composite unit built from fixed numerical measures; cosmic history is cyclic and quantifiable.

In practice

Use yuga-measures to interpret Purāṇic narratives, ritual time-claims, and the relative scale of human life versus cosmic cycles.

Symbolism of the boar

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Cosmology
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Sanskrit Metrics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a Purāṇic numerical formulation for cosmological time cycles, reflecting how early Sanskrit compendia systematized large-scale chronology (yuga and caturyuga) using conventional number-words and units such as lakṣa and ayuta.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic site is named in this verse; the content is primarily cosmological and arithmetical (time-reckoning).

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse is descriptive rather than prescriptive; its philosophical instruction lies in presenting time as cyclical and quantifiable, a common Purāṇic framework used to contextualize human history within larger cosmic periods.