Varaha Purana 96.2: Adhyaya 96, Shloka 2
The Threefold Power: The Raudrī Observance and the Manifestation of Chāmuṇḍā
Pūrva Bhāga · Vrata literature (austerity and pañcāgni practice)
तपः कृत्वा चिरं कालं पालयाम्यखलं जगत् । एवमुद्दिश्य पञ्चाग्निं साधयामास भामिनी ॥
tapaḥ kṛtvā ciraṃ kālaṃ pālayāmy akhalaṃ jagat | evam uddiśya pañcāgniṃ sādhayāmāsa bhāminī ||
tapaH kRRitvA chiraM kAlaM pAlayAmyAkhalaM jagat || evamuddishya paMchAgniM sAdhayAmAsa bhAminI
Po praktykowaniu ascezy przez długi czas, postanowiła: Będę podtrzymywać i chronić cały świat. Z tą intencją promienna kobieta podjęła dyscyplinę pięciu ognii.
Sandhi Notes
- पालयाम्यखलं → पालयामि अखलम्
- एवमुद्दिश्य → एवम् उद्दिश्य
- पञ्चाग्निं → पञ्च-अग्निम्
Varāha (continuation context)
The moral quality of austerity is determined by its intention: sustaining the world rather than egoic power.
Undertake disciplines (fasts, vows, service) with loka-hita orientation; keep saṅkalpa explicit and steady over time.
Pañcāgni frames the body as a sacrificial field: heat (tapas) becomes yajña, converting personal endurance into cosmic maintenance (loka-saṃgraha).
Five fires as microcosmic yajña: four surrounding fires plus the sun overhead; the ascetic as havis, resolve (saṅkalpa) as mantra.
Tapas as inner yajña aligns with karma-yoga/loka-saṃgraha logic: action/discipline offered without selfish aim supports dharma and purifies antaḥkaraṇa.
Tapas undertaken with loka-saṃgraha intention (to sustain the world) is praised; pañcāgni is presented as a rigorous ascetic discipline.
Implied: such tapas generates world-sustaining merit/power; misuse or absence of discipline forfeits that protective potency (not explicit).
Implied fruit: capacity to uphold/protect the world (loka-dhāraṇa) through accumulated tapas-śakti.
Continuation of Raudrī-vrata narrative; Tapas motif leading to later conflict with the asura (next verses)
FAQs
It preserves a reference to pañcāgni asceticism, a well-attested austerity practice across Sanskrit traditions, useful for comparative ritual history.
No location is specified in this verse; it continues the vrata narrative framework.
It emphasizes tapas and intentionality directed toward collective welfare (“sustaining the world”), a key Purāṇic ethical theme.
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