Varaha Purana 136.6: Adhyaya 136, Shloka 6
A Sūtra-like Manual of Expiations for Ritual Transgressions
Uttara Bhāga · Prāyaścitta-karmasūtra (Austerity and Lamp-Donation)
चतुर्थभक्तमाहारमाकाशशयने स्वपेत् ॥ दीपं दत्त्वापराधाद्वै तरन्ति मनुजा भुवि
caturtha-bhaktam āhāram ākāśa-śayane svapet | dīpaṁ dattvāparādhād vai taranti manujā bhuvi ||
chaturthabhaktamAhAramAkAshashayane svapet || dIpaM dattvAparAdhAdvai taranti manujA bhuvi
చతుర్థభక్తంగా (అల్పాహారం/తక్కువసార్లు) భోజనం చేసి, ఆకాశశయనంలో నిద్రించాలి. దీపదానం చేయుటవలన భూమిపై మనుష్యులు అపరాధాన్ని దాటుతారు.
Varāha
Curious
What austerity and gift remove ‘aparādha’ and lead to crossing beyond fault?
Self-restraint (niyama) plus generous giving (dāna) transforms karmic residue into clarity and merit.
Adopt measured eating, simplify comforts, and offer lamp-gift with repentance and devotion.
Normative instruction within the Varāha–Bhū teaching frame
The lamp signifies jñāna/light that dispels pāpa; austerity disciplines the senses—together mirroring inner yajña where ignorance is offered into the fire of awareness.
Dīpa as miniature agni; open-sky sleeping evokes ‘ākāśa’ as witness-space; restrained food as oblation-measure (āhuti-mātra).
Light as ātma-jyotis metaphor; aparādha-kṣaya through sattva-śuddhi enabling clearer recognition of dharma and devotion.
Practice restrained eating (caturtha-bhakta) and sleep under open sky; give a lamp as dāna to overcome offenses.
Lamp-gift with austerity becomes a means of aparādha-kṣaya; disregard sustains the burden of fault.
Crossing beyond offense (aparādha) and its worldly consequences
Varāha Purāṇa 136.5 (Dvādaśī timing); Varāha Purāṇa 136.7 (purity and proper procedure); Varāha Purāṇa 136.8–136.9 (impurity contact and consequence)
FAQs
It documents a characteristic Purāṇic pairing of austerity (tapas-like restraint) with gifting (dāna), a common ethical technology for remediation.
No specific location is named; the practice is described as applicable ‘on earth’ (bhuvi).
That disciplined restraint and the donation of a lamp are presented as practical means for mitigating a defined ritual offence.
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