Deity

वराह

Varāha

verses
1,140
books
23
chapters
561

What the texts say

In the Bhagavata Purana, Varaha is the boar form taken by Lord Vishnu, and the god Brahma says the Lord assumed it as a pastime, to lift the earth drowned in the great ocean. Bhagavatam 7.2.1, 2.7.1 There, Varaha first appears as a small boar, no larger than the top of a thumb, from Brahma's nostril. Bhagavatam 3.13.18, 3.19.2 He then entered the water with his sharp hooves and found the limits of the unlimited ocean, where the earth lay as at creation's beginning. Bhagavatam 3.13.30 In the same account, he lifted the earth easily on his tusks out of the water, then in his anger killed the demon Hiranyaksha, who tried to fight him. Bhagavatam 3.13.31 In the Vishnu Purana, the sages praised Varaha with hymns as he rose bearing the earth and shook his body, the very substance of the Vedas. Vishnu Purana 1.4.29

Where to read

Every verse that names वराह, book by book.

    • 2.1.1.18

      चतुर्बाहुमुदारांगं वराहवदनं शुभम्। शङ्खचक्राभयवरान्बिभ्राणं पुरुषोत्तमम्।

    • 2.1.4.2

      श्रीसूत उवाच। इति पृष्टः पुनः प्राह श्रीवराहो जगत्पतिः।

    • 2.1.9.18

      अथ रङ्गदासस्य श्रीनिवाससेवार्थं श्रीशेषाचलम् आगमनम्। नारायणपुरीं प्राप्य श्रीवराहं प्रणम्य च, तत्र श्रीनिवासं वेङ्कटाद्रिनिवासिनं श्रुतवान्।

    • 134.1

      अथ पूजादि-समयिकापराधेषु प्रायश्चित्तानि। श्रीवराह उवाच—देवि, यो मम कर्मपरायणः सन् मम विहितकर्माणि मुक्त्वा प्रायश्चित्तविधिं वाक्यतः प्रभाषते।

    • 148.4

      श्रीवराह उवाच—अहं नारायणो देवः सर्वधर्मव्यपाश्रयः। मात्सर्यं च मे नास्ति, तेनाहं परमः प्रभुः।

    • 166.2

      श्रीवराह उवाच—पुरा सुमतिनाम राजा आसीत्, धार्मिको लोकविश्रुतः। स तीर्थयात्रानिमित्तेन स्वर्गलोकं गतवान्॥

    • 1.75.83

      स्वस्ति प्रजाभ्यो देवेभ्य ऋषिभ्यश्चेति चाब्रुवन् । ऊचुश्च देवदेवेशं विष्णुं वाराहरूपिणम् ॥

    • 1.3.25

      अयं कल्पः प्रथमः परिकल्पितः, ‘वाराह’ इति नाम्ना; कल्पादौ च भगवान् ब्रह्मा नारायणाख्यः प्रादुर्भवति यथा।

    • 3.20.71

      ततो गच्छेत राजेन्द्र सिद्धो यत्र जनार्दनः। वाराहं रूपमास्थाय अचिन्त्यः परमेश्वरः॥

    • 3.18.2

      तत्राभिजितं धराधरं वराहरूपिणं ददर्श, प्रोन्नीयमानामवनिमग्रदंष्ट्रया। अरुणश्रिया स्वरुचोऽक्ष्णा मुष्णन्तं दृष्ट्वा स जहास—“अहो वनगोचरो मृगः” इति॥

    • 3.19.2

      ततः सपत्नं मुखतः चरन्तम् अकुतोभयम् असुरं हिरण्याक्षं प्रति भगवान् अक्षजः उत्पत्य गदया हनौ जघान ॥

    • 3.13.9

      ब्रह्मोवाच प्रीतस्तुभ्यमहं तात स्वस्ति स्ताद्वां क्षितीश्वर । यन्निर्व्यलीकेन हृदा शाधि मेत्यात्मनार्पितम् ॥

Key chapters

The chapters where वराह matters most.

  1. Veṅkaṭācalamāhātmya (Adhyāya 1): Nāradasya Varāhadarśanam, Dharaṇī-Varāha-saṃvādaḥ, Tīrtha-māhātmya-nirdeśaḥ

    Skanda Purana 2.1.1 · 32 verses

  2. Pad्मिनी/Pad्मावती-Lakṣaṇa and Śrīnिवास Encounter in the Puṣpāṭavī (Chapter 4)

    Skanda Purana 2.1.4 · 9 verses

  3. Varāha Confronts Hiraṇyākṣa: The Challenge, the Rescue of Earth, and the Opening of the Mace-Duel

    Bhagavatam 3.18 · 25 verses

    Protector-restorer who prioritizes Bhū-devī’s safety, then…

  4. The Slaying of Hiraṇyākṣa and the Triumph of Varāha

    Bhagavatam 3.19 · 20 verses

    Supreme protector who accepts Brahmā’s prayers, withstands…

  5. Expiations for Ritual and Temporal Offences in Worship, and the Prescribed Purificatory Procedure (Upaspṛśya)

    Varaha Purana 134 · 10 verses

  6. Bhumi Stotra Varnanam

    Devi Bhagavatam 9.9 · 8 verses

  7. The Greatness of Stutasvāmi: Varāha’s Disclosure of the Bhūtagiri Sacred Landscape and Its Ethical Discipline

    Varaha Purana 148 · 8 verses

  8. The Greatness of the Sacred Pond Called Asikuṇḍa

    Varaha Purana 166 · 7 verses

  9. Praise and Procedure of Donating the Two-Faced Kapilā Cow and the Golden Pot (Hema-kumbha)

    Varaha Purana 112 · 6 verses

  10. Rites for the comb, collyrium, and mirror; initiations for the four social orders; and the Gaṇāntikā vow/insignia

    Varaha Purana 128 · 6 verses

Key episodes

  1. Srinivasa and Padmavati (Venkateswara's Wedding)

    Skanda Purana 2.1.3-2.1.8

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