Varaha Purana 79.8: Adhyaya 79, Shloka 8

Description of the Inner Basins (Droṇīs): Śrīsaras, Śrīvana, Bilva Forest, and Tāla Grove

Devanagari script

सरसस्तस्य तीरे तु तस्मिन् सिद्धनिषेवितम् । सदा पुष्पफलṃ रम्यं तत्र बिल्ववनं महत् ॥ ७९.८ ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 79.8

Transliteration

sarasas tasya tīre tu tasmin siddhaniṣevitam | sadā puṣpaphalaṃ ramyaṃ tatra bilvavanaṃ mahat || 79.8 ||

Translation

Na brzegu owego jeziora, w miejscu odwiedzanym przez siddhów, stał wielki gaj bilvy, zawsze rozkoszny, nieustannie rodzący kwiaty i owoce.

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Word by Word

• sarasas: of the lake
• sarasas: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: sarasa (सरस्/सरस, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka (नपुंसकलिङ्ग), Ṣaṣṭhī (षष्ठी), Ekavacana

• tasya: of that
• tasya: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/षष्ठी)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्, सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Ṣaṣṭhī, Ekavacana

• tīre: on the bank
• tīre: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tīra (तीर, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Saptamī, Ekavacana

• tu: and/but
• tu: Sambandha (निपात)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tu (तु)
• Form: Avyaya, particle (निपात)

• tasmin: in that (place)
• tasmin: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Noun
• Root: tad (तद्, सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Sarvanāma, Saptamī, Ekavacana

• siddha-niṣevitam: frequented by siddhas
• siddha-niṣevitam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: siddha (सिद्ध, प्रातिपदिक) + niṣevita (निषेवित, कृदन्त from √sev (सेव्) with nis-; क्त)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; PPP (क्त) 'frequented/served'; samāsa: siddha-niṣevita = 'frequented by siddhas' (तृतीया-तत्पुरुष sense)

• sadā: always
• sadā: Kriyāviśeṣaṇa (क्रियाविशेषण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: sadā (सदा)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (कालवाचक)

• puṣpa-phalam: flowers and fruits
• puṣpa-phalam: Viśeṣya (विशेष्य) / Karta (implicit 'asti')
• Type: Noun
• Root: puṣpa (पुष्प, प्रातिपदिक) + phala (फल, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana; itaretara-dvandva in sense 'flowers and fruits' (समाहार-द्वन्द्व as neuter singular)

• ramyam: beautiful
• ramyam: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: ramya (रम्य, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā/Dvitīyā, Ekavacana

• tatra: there
• tatra: Adhikaraṇa (अधिकरण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: tatra (तत्र)
• Form: Avyaya, adverb (देशवाचक)

• bilva-vanam: a bilva forest
• bilva-vanam: Karta (कर्ता) (implicit 'asti')
• Type: Noun
• Root: bilva (बिल्व, प्रातिपदिक) + vana (वन, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā, Ekavacana; samāsa: bilva-vana = 'bilva-grove/forest of bilva trees' (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष)

• mahat: great / large
• mahat: Viśeṣaṇa (विशेषण)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: mahat (महत्, प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: Napumsaka, Prathamā, Ekavacana

Speaker

Varāha (default—primary instructor voice in the Varāha Purāṇa dialogue framework)

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Vaishnavism
• Ancient Geography
• Ecological Ethics

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It exemplifies a Purāṇic mode of mapping cultural heritage onto landscapes: lakeshores, groves, and communities of ascetics/siddhas are presented as features of a sanctified geography, useful for understanding how pilgrimage literature encodes environmental and social memory.

Which geographic location is identified?

The verse refers generically to “the bank of that lake” and a “great bilva-grove,” without providing a unique toponym in this fragment; precise modern identification is therefore not possible from this single śloka alone.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Implicitly, the verse frames groves and waterside ecosystems as valued cultural-ecological heritage—spaces to be respected and maintained—by depicting them as enduring, life-bearing (flowers/fruits) environments associated with disciplined, exemplary beings (siddhas).