Varaha Purana 207.16: Adhyaya 207, Shloka 16
Section on the ‘Person’ who Entices Beings within the Cycle of Rebirth
यम उवाच ॥ गच्छन्ति हि नराः घोराः बहवोऽधर्मनिर्मितम् ॥ बन्धान्श्च सुबहूंस्तत्र प्राप्नुवन्ति तपोधन ॥
yama uvāca || gacchanti hi narā ghorā bahavo 'dharmanirmitam || bandhānś ca subahūṃs tatra prāpnuvanti tapodhana ||
యముడు పలికెను—హే తపోధనా! అధర్మముచే నిర్మితమైన ఆ లోకానికి అనేక భయంకరులు వెళ్తారు; అక్కడ వారు అనేక బంధనాలను (శిక్షాబంధనాలను) పొందుతారు.
Yama
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"instructor","key_question":"None (this verse begins the answer: many go to the adharma-made realm and receive many bonds)."}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"topic":"narakas","instruction_summary":"Adharma constructs the ‘ghora’ realm (naraka); those who commit it are bound by many punitive restraints there.","karmic_consequence":"Adharmic conduct results in confinement, bondage, and fearsome suffering in naraka; dharmic restraint avoids such bonds."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"cosmic justice / karmic retribution","core_concept":"Naraka is not arbitrary: it is ‘adharma-nirmita’—a consequence-structure generated by unrighteous action, experienced as bondage and restraint.","practical_application":"Treat ethical lapses as self-forged chains; cultivate dharma and timely prāyaścitta to prevent the ‘bandha’ of consequences."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Cosmology"]
Primary Rasa: bhayānaka
Secondary Rasa: raudra
Type: otherworldly realm (punitive)
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 207.16 (question on naraka-causes); Continuation expected: subsequent verses detailing specific sins and punishments (not provided)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"Yama speaks from his court, declaring that many go to the dreadful adharma-born realm and are seized by numerous bonds; the atmosphere is judicial and ominous.","item_prompts":["Yama seated with daṇḍa (staff)","noose (pāśa) and chains (bandha)","dark gate to naraka","attendant figures (yamadūtas)","austere sage-listener (tapo-dhana) in foreground"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: Yama with greenish/dark complexion, ornate crown, pāśa in hand; yamadūtas stylized; strong reds/blacks, temple-court setting.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: Yama enthroned with gold-leaf crown and halo; embossed chains and pāśa; dramatic but formal court composition.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: dignified Yama with refined ornamentation; emphasis on judicial posture and symbolic restraints rather than horror.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: simplified Yama court with narrative clarity; muted dark palette, expressive gestures, minimal attendants."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"authoritative, admonitory","suggested_raga":"Darbari Kanada","pace":"slow-medium","voice_tone":"deep, commanding, measured like a judge’s pronouncement"}
FAQs
It reflects a Purāṇic juridical imagination in which Yama functions as an ethical adjudicator; the verse frames suffering as an outcome of adharma rather than as an arbitrary punishment.
No specific terrestrial or pilgrimage geography is named; the verse refers to a moral-cosmological ‘realm’ associated with adharma.
Unrighteous conduct (adharma) leads to restrictive consequences described as ‘bonds’ and punitive conditions.
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
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 word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.