Varaha Purana 2.9: Adhyaya 2, Shloka 9
Cosmogony and the Ninefold Creation: Rudra’s Origin and the Prelude to the Sāvitrī-Veda Narrative
Pūrva Bhāga · Cosmogony / Elements (Bhūta-sṛṣṭi) within the Varāha–Pṛthivī Dialogue
शून्यं त्वासीत् तत्र शब्दस्तु खं च तस्माद् वायुस् तत एवाऽनु तेजः । तस्माद् आपस् तत एवाऽनु देवि मया सृष्टा भवती भूतधात्री ॥ २.९ ॥
śūnyaṃ tv āsīt tatra śabdas tu khaṃ ca tasmād vāyus tata evānu tejaḥ | tasmād āpas tata evānu devi mayā sṛṣṭā bhavatī bhūtadhātrī || 2.9 ||
shUnyaM tvAsIt tatra shabdastu khaM cha tasmAd vAyustata evAnu tejaH | tasmAdApastata evAnu devi mayA sRRiShTA bhavatI bhUtadhAtrI || 2.9 ||
शून्यमेवासीत्तत्र; तस्मिन् शब्दः खं च समभवत्। तस्माद्वायुरुदपद्यत, ततः परं तेजः। तस्मादापः; ततः परं देवि मया त्वं सृष्टा, भूतधात्री भूतधारिणी च॥
Sandhi Notes
- त्वासीत्→तु+आसीत्
- ततोऽपि/ततोऽक्षमाला इव→ततः+...
- तत एवाऽनु→ततः+एव+अनु (अवग्रह)
- वायुस्→वायुः
- आपस्→आपः
Varāha
Curious; being instructed about her own origin and cosmic function as bearer of beings
How did creation proceed from śūnya/ākāśa through the elements, and what is Earth’s place in that sequence?
Ordered emergence of elements and Earth’s role as bhūta-dhātrī under the Lord’s creative agency.
Cultivate śānta-bhāva and reverence for Earth as sacred support; interpret sensory world (sound/space etc.) as dependent on the divine source.
Varāha addresses Bhū-devī directly as the created ‘bhūta-dhātrī’ (bearer of beings), situating her within his cosmogonic act.
A Purāṇic ‘tattva-krama’ (ordered unfolding) where the Lord is the efficient cause: from apparent void arises subtle sound/space, then vāyu, tejas, āpas, culminating in Bhū as the support of embodied life—implying the Lord’s immanence in the bhūtas while remaining their source.
Implicit yajña-cosmology: śabda/ākāśa as the matrix of mantra; vāyu as prāṇa/oblation-carrier; tejas as sacrificial fire; āpas as consecratory waters; Bhū as the altar-field (vedi/kṣetra) that bears beings.
Leans toward satkārya-style emanation language while keeping Viṣṇu as nimitta/upādāna in Purāṇic idiom; the sequence echoes pañcīkaraṇa-like thinking without technical Vedānta terminology.
Varāha Purāṇa 2.2.10-12 (cosmic egg, Nārāyaṇa, lotus-born Brahmā)
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic cosmogonic motif describing an ordered emergence of fundamental principles/elements, reflecting broader South Asian intellectual traditions on the constitution of the cosmos.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; the content is cosmological rather than topographical.
The verse primarily conveys a philosophical account of origins and dependence—beings and the world are presented as arising in an ordered sequence—rather than a direct moral injunction.
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