Varaha Purana 82.27: Adhyaya 82, Shloka 27

The Descent of the Rivers: The Sky-Gaṅgā and Her Fourfold Division

Devanagari script

क्षुद्रनद्यश्च कोटिशः ।

Sanskrit recitationVaraha Purana 82.27

Transliteration

kṣudranadyaś ca koṭiśaḥ

Translation

क्षुद्रनद्यश्च कोटिशः।

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Word by Word

• क्षुद्र-नद्यः: small rivers
• क्षुद्र-नद्यः: Karta (कर्ता/Subject)
• Type: Noun
• Root: क्षुद्र (प्रातिपदिक) + नदी (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग; प्रथमा-विभक्ति; बहुवचन; कर्मधारयः (क्षुद्राः नद्यः = small rivers)

• च: and
• च: Sambandha (सम्बन्ध/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: च (अव्यय)
• Form: समुच्चय-अव्यय (Conjunction)

• कोटिशः: by crores; in countless millions
• कोटिशः: Sankhya/Parimana (संख्या/परिमाण)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: कोटि (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्यय-प्रयोग (indeclinable adverbial formation with -शस्/-शः); परिमाणवाचक (quantifier adverb)

Speaker

Varāha

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Hydrography
• Purāṇic Cosmography
• Environmental Scale

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It emphasizes scale—beyond named major rivers, the text acknowledges vast networks of smaller waterways, a feature important for understanding Purāṇic environmental imagination.

Which geographic location is identified?

No single location; it generalizes the presence of innumerable minor rivers within the cosmographic region under discussion.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

Implicitly, it broadens attention from famous rivers to smaller watercourses, supporting an ecological ethic that values entire watersheds, not only major rivers.