Varaha Purana 46.9: Adhyaya 46, Shloka 9

The Rite of the Āṣāḍha Bright-Fortnight Dvādaśī Fast and the Installation (Nyāsa) of the Fourfold Manifestation

Devanagari script

पृथिवी देवसमितौ मया दृष्टा यदूत्तम । गत्वा च जल्पती भारं न शक्ताऽऽहितुं सुराः ॥ ४६.९ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 46.9

Transliteration

pṛthivī devasamitau mayā dṛṣṭā yadūttama | gatvā ca jalpatī bhāraṃ na śaktā ūhituṃ surāḥ || 46.9 ||

Translation

O najlepszy z Yadów, ujrzałem Ziemię na zgromadzeniu bogów; udawszy się tam, mówiła o swoim cierpieniu: bogowie nie byli w stanie udźwignąć tego brzemienia.

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Word by Word

• pṛthivī: Earth (goddess Earth)
• pṛthivī: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: pṛthivī (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), प्रथमा-विभक्ति (Nominative/1st), एकवचन (singular)

• deva-samitau: in the assembly of the gods
• deva-samitau: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण/Location)
• Type: Noun
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक) + samiti (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग (feminine), सप्तमी-विभक्ति (Locative/7th), एकवचन (singular); देवसमितौ = देवसमित्याम् (in the assembly of gods)

• mayā: by me
• mayā: Kartr̥-karaṇa (करण/Agent-instrument)
• Type: Noun
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: उत्तमपुरुष-सर्वनाम (1st person pronoun), तृतीया-विभक्ति (Instrumental/3rd), एकवचन (singular)

• dṛṣṭā: seen
• dṛṣṭā: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Verb
• Root: dṛś (धातु) → dṛṣṭa (कृदन्त, क्त-प्रत्यय)
• Form: भूतकर्मणि कृदन्त (past passive participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘seen’ agreeing with pṛthivī

• yadu-uttama: O best of the Yadus
• yadu-uttama: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन/Address)
• Type: Noun
• Root: yadu (प्रातिपदिक) + uttama (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), सम्बोधन-विभक्ति (Vocative), एकवचन; यदूत्तम = ‘O best of the Yadus’

• gatvā: having gone
• gatvā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण/Adverbial to verb)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: gam (धातु) → gatvā (क्त्वान्त अव्यय)
• Form: क्त्वा-प्रत्ययान्त अव्यय (gerund/absolutive)

• ca: and
• ca: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: ca (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (conjunction)

• jalpatī: speaking
• jalpatī: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Verb
• Root: jalp (धातु) → jalpat (शतृ-कृदन्त)
• Form: वर्तमानकाले शतृ-प्रत्यय (present active participle), स्त्रीलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘speaking’ agreeing with pṛthivī

• bhāram: burden
• bhāram: Karma (कर्म/Object)
• Type: Noun
• Root: bhāra (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), द्वितीया-विभक्ति (Accusative/2nd), एकवचन (singular)

• na: not
• na: Pratiṣedha (प्रतिषेध/Negation)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: na (अव्यय)
• Form: निषेध-अव्यय (negation particle)

• śaktāḥ: able
• śaktāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject complement)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: śakta (प्रातिपदिक; from śak धातु, क्त-कृदन्त used adjectivally)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (plural); predicate adjective for surāḥ

• ūhituṃ: to bear/carry
• ūhituṃ: Prayojana (प्रयोजन/Purpose)
• Type: Verb
• Root: ūh (धातु) → ūhitum (तुमुन्-प्रत्यय)
• Form: तुमुन्-अन्त (infinitive), ‘to carry/raise’

• surāḥ: the gods
• surāḥ: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sura (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग (masculine), प्रथमा (Nominative/1st), बहुवचन (plural)

Speaker

Varāha (default dialogue framework; instructor-narrator voice addressing a Yadu-descendant interlocutor)

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Narrative
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Ecological Ethics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a common Purāṇic narrative unit: Earth personified approaches the gods to report an unsustainable burden, framing later restorative action (pṛthivī-uddhāra) within a cosmic political assembly (devasamiti).

Which geographic location is identified?

No specific terrestrial location is named in this verse; the setting is the devasamitī (the gods’ assembly), a cosmological rather than geographic locus.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse foregrounds the idea of limits to “burden-bearing,” supporting an ecological-ethical reading: when the world’s load becomes excessive, responsible governance and corrective action are implied rather than continued extraction or neglect.