Varaha Purana 201.12 — Adhyaya 201, Shloka 12
The Battle between the Rākṣasas and Yama’s Attendant-Messengers
भो भो मन्देहका वीराः मम चित्तानुपालकाः ॥ एतान्बध्नीत गृह्णीत भूताराक्षसपुङ्गवाः ॥
bho bho mandehakā vīrāḥ mama cittānupālakāḥ || etān badhnīta gṛhṇīta bhūtarākṣasapuṅgavāḥ ||
“హో హో! ఓ మందేహక వీరులారా, నా సంకల్పాన్ని కాపాడువారలారా! వీరిని బంధించండి, పట్టుకోండి—ఓ భూతరాక్షస శ్రేష్ఠులారా!”
Citragupta
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"aspect_highlighted":"None","boar_form_detail":"None","earth_interaction":"None"}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"instructor","bhu_devi_state":"None","key_question":"None"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false,"specific_site":"None","parikrama_context":"None","krishna_connection":"None"}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"rajaniti","instruction_summary":"An authority commands enforcement agents to arrest and bind offenders—state/otherworldly policing as an arm of dharma.","karmic_consequence":"Swift restraint of wrongdoers protects order; arbitrary seizure without dharmic basis accrues sin to the enforcers and commander."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false,"vrata_name":"None","tithi_month":"None","promised_fruit":"None"}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false,"symbolic_interpretation":"None","yajna_varaha_imagery":"None","vedantic_connection":"None"}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"ethics of power","core_concept":"Coercive power (daṇḍa) is legitimate only when aligned with dharma; otherwise it becomes violence.","practical_application":"In leadership roles, document reasons for punitive action, ensure due process, and avoid acting from personal offense."}
Subject Matter: ["Governance","Ethics"]
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: bhayanaka
Type: otherworldly command hall / threshold to punishment grounds
Related Themes: Varaha Purana: continuation of Citragupta’s orders to Mandehas (chapter context around 201)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Citragupta rises or gestures sharply, summoning Mandeha warriors—spirit-rakshasa captains—who surge forward with ropes and fetters to seize the accused.","item_prompts":["raised commanding hand","Mandeha warriors","rakshasa/spirits with fierce faces","ropes/fetters","accused figures recoiling","court backdrop with registers"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: dynamic diagonal movement—Citragupta commanding, rakshasa figures with stylized ferocity, strong reds/ochres, clear fetters and ropes.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: central Citragupta with gold halo; flanking rakshasa attendants in embossed ornament; ropes rendered with metallic highlights; dramatic symmetry.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: elegant court interior; restrained but intense gesture; detailed textiles; rakshasas depicted with controlled menace rather than grotesque excess.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: narrative panel—command at left, capture at right; delicate landscape-like framing even in otherworldly setting; expressive faces."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"imperative, martial, urgent","suggested_raga":"Shankarabharanam","pace":"medium-fast","voice_tone":"authoritative, ringing, percussive consonants"}
FAQs
It illustrates the rhetoric of command in Sanskrit narrative and the depiction of enforcement agents under a cosmic administrator.
No geographic location is identified.
The passage emphasizes restraint and apprehension (binding/seizing) as instruments of order, implying that harmful actors are to be stopped and held accountable.
Ask anything about this verse
Curious about the meaning, context, or a word? Ask, and continue the conversation in the Vedapath app.
A free Google sign-in keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with audio, word-by-word meanings, and more.