Varaha Purana 39.70: Adhyaya 39, Shloka 70

Discrimination of the Three Bodies and the Dharaṇī Vow: A Manual for Dvādaśī Observance

Pūrva Bhāga · Dharma-śāstraic Ethics (Prāyaścitta / Conduct and Atonement)

Devanagari script

अगम्यागमनं येन कृतं जानाति मानवः । स इमं विधिमासाद्य तस्मात् पापाद् विमुच्यते ॥ ३९.७० ॥

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 39.70

Transliteration

agamyāgamanaṃ yena kṛtaṃ jānāti mānavaḥ | sa imaṃ vidhim āsādya tasmāt pāpād vimucyate || 39.70 ||

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

अगम्यागमनं येन कृतं ज्ञातं च मानवः । स इमं विधिमासाद्य तस्मात् पापात् प्रमुच्यते ॥

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Word by Word

• agamya-āgamanam: going to the forbidden (illicit approach)
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; tatpuruṣa (अगम्यस्य आगमनम्)
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: agamya (गम् धातु; ण्यत्/तव्यत्-भाव) + āgamana (प्रातिपदिक)

• yena: by whom/through whom
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Instrumental (3rd/तृतीया), Singular; relative pronoun
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)
• Root: yad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• kṛtam: done/committed
• Type: Adjective
• Form: Neuter, Nominative/Accusative (1st/2nd), Singular; past passive participle (क्त) used predicatively
• Role: Kriyā-viśeṣaṇa (क्रिया-विशेषण)
• Root: kṛ (कृ धातु; क्त-प्रत्यय)

• jānāti: knows/realizes
• Type: Verb
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (लट्, present), Parasmaipada, Prathama-puruṣa (3rd), Singular
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: jñā (ज्ञा धातु)

• mānavaḥ: a man/human
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: mānava (प्रातिपदिक)

• saḥ: he
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Nominative (1st/प्रथमा), Singular; pronoun
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• imam: this
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular; pronoun
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• vidhim: rite/rule
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Accusative (2nd/द्वितीया), Singular
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: vidhi (प्रातिपदिक)

• āsādya: having undertaken/approached
• Type: Verb
• Form: Absolutive/Gerund (क्त्वा/ल्यप्), ‘having approached/undertaken’
• Role: Pūrvakāla-kriyā (पूर्वकाल-क्रिया)
• Root: ā-sad (आसद् धातु)

• tasmāt: from that
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine/Neuter, Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular; pronoun
• Role: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Root: tad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• pāpāt: from sin
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter, Ablative (5th/पञ्चमी), Singular
• Role: Apādāna (अपादान)
• Root: pāpa (प्रातिपदिक)

• vimucyate: is freed/is released
• Type: Verb
• Form: Laṭ-lakāra (लट्, present), Ātmanepada, Prathama-puruṣa (3rd), Singular; passive/reflexive sense ‘is released’
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: vi-muc (विमुच् धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• agamyāgamanaṃ = agamya + āgamanam
• vidhimāsādya = vidhim + āsādya
• pāpād = pāpāt (final t → d before voiced consonant)

Speaker and setting

Shanta and Bhayanaka rasa

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Grave, concerned

What she asks

If one has committed 'agamya-āgamana' (forbidden sexual approach), can this prescribed procedure free one from that sin?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Moral psychology + expiation

Subjects

EthicsDharma-śāstraAtonement (Prāyaścitta)

Core idea

Moral repair begins with self-recognition of wrongdoing (जानाति) and is completed through śāstric discipline; dharma is restorative, not only punitive.

In practice

Cultivate honest self-assessment, cease the prohibited act, and perform the prescribed prāyaścitta/vrata with restraint and renewed commitment to dharma.

Dharma

Vrata

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇa
• Legal-Ethical Discourse
• Vaiṣṇavism

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It reflects a dharma-śāstraic mode of Purāṇic composition in which moral-legal transgressions are paired with prescribed remedial procedures (prāyaścitta), illustrating how Purāṇas functioned as accessible ethical compendia alongside more technical legal texts.

Which geographic location is identified?

No geographic location is named in this verse; it is framed as a general ethical-legal rule rather than a statement tied to a specific tīrtha or region.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Moral accountability (recognizing a transgression) is linked to remediation: acknowledging the prohibited act and undertaking the stated procedure leads to release from the resulting fault/sin.