Varaha Purana 18.2: Adhyaya 18, Shloka 2
The Origin of Fire and the Liturgical Names of Agni
Pūrva Bhāga · Stotra/Smaraṇa (Invocation of deities and cosmic guardians)
आदित्यचन्द्रमातॄणां दुर्गायाः वा दिशां तथा । धनदस्य च विष्णोर्वा धर्मस्य परमेष्ठिनः ॥ १८.२ ॥
ādityacandramātṝṇāṃ durgāyā vā diśāṃ tathā | dhanadasya ca viṣṇor vā dharmasya parameṣṭhinaḥ || 18.2 ||
AdityachandramAtRRINAM durgAyA vA dishAM tathA | dhanadasya cha viShNorvA dharmasya parameShThinaH || 18.2 ||
ఆదిత్యుడు, చంద్రుడు, మాతృదేవతలు, దుర్గ; అలాగే దిక్కులు; మరియు ధనదుడు (కుబేరుడు) గాని, విష్ణువు, ధర్ముడు, పరమేష్ఠి (బ్రహ్మ) గాని—ఈ దేవతల విషయముగా।
Sandhi Notes
- आदित्यचन्द्रमातॄणाम् is treated as a compound cluster
- विष्णोः+वा → विष्णोर्वा (ः + व → र्)
Varāha
Divine plurality as ordered functions sustaining cosmos, time, wealth, law, and creation.
In ritual speech and ethical life, remember the relevant devatā-office (time, direction, wealth, dharma) and act in alignment with that cosmic order.
The verse functions as a cosmological-ritual mapping: multiple devatās (luminaries, directions, guardians, Dharma, Brahmā, Viṣṇu) are invoked as loci of order, implying the Purāṇic view that the cosmos is a sacrificial/ritual field sustained by divine offices.
Implicit yajña-grid rather than explicit Varāha anatomy: Āditya/Candra as time-markers, Dik-devatās as spatial markers, Dharma as norm, Parameṣṭhin as creator-principle, Viṣṇu as sustaining principle.
Hints at a layered theism where many names denote functions within one ordered reality; compatible with Vaiṣṇava reading that Viṣṇu pervades and coordinates these offices (antaryāmin logic).
A catalogic invocation/listing of deities rather than a prescriptive rule.
Varāha–Pṛthivī dialogue sections on devatā-origins and ritual timings (adjacent verses 18.18.3-4)
FAQs
It preserves a typical Purāṇic liturgical register: enumerating major deities and cosmic guardians as objects of remembrance or invocation, reflecting shared ritual vocabulary across early medieval Sanskrit textual culture.
No specific terrestrial location is named; the verse instead references cosmic directions (diśaḥ), a standard spatial framework in Indic cosmology and ritual orientation.
Implicitly, the verse promotes disciplined remembrance/acknowledgment of cosmic order and its guardians (Dharma, directions, major deities), aligning personal conduct with a broader moral-cosmic framework rather than prescribing sectarian obligation.
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