Varaha Purana 113.52: Adhyaya 113, Shloka 52
Hymn to Varāha and Pṛthivī’s Inquiry
Prelude to the Sanatkumāra Dialogue
Pūrva Bhāga · Stotra / Vaiṣṇava Devotional-Hymn Segment (Keshava-stuti within narrative dialogue)
अनन्तश्चासि नागानां सर्पाणामसि तक्षकः ॥ उद्वहः प्रवहश्चासि वरुणो वारुणो भवान् ॥
anantaś cāsi nāgānāṃ sarpāṇām asi takṣakaḥ || udvahaḥ pravahaś cāsi varuṇo vāruṇo bhavān ||
anantashchAsi nAgAnAM sarpANAmasi takShakaH || udvahaH pravahashchAsi varuNo vAruNo bhavAn
नागानां मध्ये त्वमनन्तः; सर्पाणां मध्ये त्वं तक्षकः। त्वमुद्वहः प्रवहश्च; त्वं वरुणः, वरुणसम्बद्धा शक्तिरपि भवान्॥
Sandhi Notes
- अनन्तश्चासि = अनन्तः च असि
- सर्पाणामसि = सर्पाणाम् असि
- प्रवहश्चासि = प्रवहः च असि
Pṛthivī
Awed, seeking to map the deity across nature’s forces
Implicit: How do your powers pervade subterranean beings (nāgas) and the waters (Varuṇa principle)?
One Lord manifests as diverse powers: support (Ananta), formidable vitality (Takṣaka), and moral-cosmic governance (Varuṇa).
Cultivate reverence toward water and life-forms; see divine order in natural systems; practice purity and truthfulness (Varuṇa’s ṛta) as spiritual discipline.
Earth praises Varāha/Viṣṇu as the indwelling power in nāgas, serpents, and waters/currents; interaction is devotional address rather than physical lifting.
Varāha/Viṣṇu is identified with the sustaining ‘support’ (Ananta) beneath worlds and with the ordering sovereignty of waters (Varuṇa/Varuṇī-śakti), implying the boar who raised Earth also masters the underworld and the cosmic ocean.
Ananta as the foundational ‘bed’/support of the sacrifice-world; Varuṇa as the guardian of ṛta and the purifying waters used in rites; currents (udvaha/pravaha) as the flow of oblations and prāṇa.
Immanence of Īśvara in all categories (jīva, deva, bhūta, tattva); the same Brahman appears as support (adhiṣṭhāna) and as governing law (niyantṛ) of natural forces.
Varāha Purāṇa 113 (continuing ‘you are X among Y’ identifications)
FAQs
It demonstrates the Purāṇic habit of identifying a single supreme principle with multiple mythic figures (Ananta, Takṣaka, Varuṇa), reflecting integrative theology in classical India.
No explicit location is named; the verse refers broadly to cosmic beings (Nāgas) and elemental domains (waters/flow).
Implicitly, it emphasizes cosmic order and governance of natural forces (associated with Varuṇa), encouraging respect for regulative principles rather than disorder.
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