Varaha Purana 52.4: Adhyaya 52, Shloka 4
The Genealogy of Trivarṇa, Manohvā, and the Akṣa Lineage, with the Construction of the Nine-Gated City
Pūrva Bhāga · Sacred Geography and Temple Foundations (Āyatana/Nirmāṇa Narrative)
एते पूर्वं दस्यवः स्युस्ततो राज्ञा वशीकृताः । अमूर्ता इव ते सर्वे चक्रुरायतनं शुभम् ॥ ५२.४ ॥
ete pūrvaṃ dasyavaḥ syus tato rājñā vaśīkṛtāḥ | amūrtā iva te sarve cakrur āyatanaṃ śubham || 52.4 ||
ete pUrvaM dasyavaH syustato rAj~nA vashIkRRitAH | amUrttA iva te sarve chakrurAyatanaM shubham || 52.4 ||
एते पूर्वं दस्यवः आसन्; पश्चात् राज्ञा वशीकृताः। ततः सर्वेऽपि अमूर्ता इव शुभम् आयतनं चक्रुः।
Varāha
Dharma can convert marginality into participation: disciplined governance + sacred works transform collective identity.
Channel power into constructive institutions (temples, tanks, dharmaśālās); prioritize reform and inclusion over mere punishment.
‘Formerly dāsyus’ becoming builders of a ‘śubha āyatana’ mirrors transformation from tamasic disorder to sattvic order—society as a ritual body being ‘templed’.
Civilizational dharma as externalization of inner discipline: when the ‘formless’ (amūrta iva) is given form through sacred architecture, it parallels giving structure to the mind through dharma.
A king’s dharma includes bringing disruptive groups under disciplined control and redirecting their energies toward auspicious public works (āyatana construction).
Just integration yields stability and merit through dharmic building; coercion without dharma breeds unrest and demerit (implied by rājadharma logic).
Varāha Purāṇa 52.52.5 (city description likely of the same polity/site)
FAQs
The verse preserves a Purāṇic memory of social groups described as 'dāsyu' being integrated or subdued under royal authority, followed by the construction of an auspicious sacred site—reflecting themes of polity, settlement, and institutionalized worship spaces in early textual historiography.
No explicit toponym is present in this verse alone; the location would need to be inferred from surrounding verses in Adhyāya 52 that likely specify the site associated with the 'āyatana' (sanctuary).
The passage implicitly prioritizes ordered governance and the establishment of auspicious communal institutions (a sacred sanctuary) as markers of societal transformation, without prescribing sectarian obligation.
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