Varaha Purana 77.4: Adhyaya 77, Shloka 4
Measurements of Mount Meru, the Boundary Mountains, and the Four Directional Great Trees
Pūrva Bhāga · Sacred Geography and Boundary-Mountains (Maryādā-parvata) Traditions
जठरो देवकूटश्च पूर्वस्यां दिशि पर्वतौ । पूर्वपश्चायतावेतावर्णवान्तरव्यवस्थितौ । मर्यादापर्वतान् एतानष्टानाहुर्मनीषिणः ॥ ७७.४ ॥
jaṭharo devakūṭaś ca pūrvasyāṁ diśi parvatau | pūrva-paścāyatāv etāv arṇavāntar-vyavasthitau | maryādā-parvatān etān aṣṭān āhur manīṣiṇaḥ || 77.4 ||
jaTharo devakUTashcha pUrvasyAM dishi parvatau | pUrvapashchAyatAvetAvarNavAntarvyavasthitau | maryAdAparvatAnetAnaShTAnAhurmanIShiNaH || 77.4 ||
పూర్వ దిశలో జఠరము మరియు దేవకూటము అనే రెండు పర్వతాలు ఉన్నాయి. ఇవి రెండూ తూర్పు నుండి పడమర వరకు విస్తరించి, సముద్రాల మధ్యస్థానంలో నిలిచివున్నవి. జ్ఞానులు ఈ ఎనిమిదినీ ‘మర్యాదా-పర్వతాలు’ అని అంటారు।
Sandhi Notes
- देवकूटश्च = देवकूटः + च
- पूर्वपश्चायतौ = पूर्व + पश्च + आयतौ (compound)
- अर्णवान्तरव्यवस्थितौ = अर्णव + अन्तर + व्यवस्थितौ (compound)
- एतानष्टानाहुः = एतान् + अष्टान् + आहुः (sandhi: न् + अ → न)
Varāha
Wisdom includes accurate naming, orientation, and recognition of limits (maryādā) in the world.
In study and practice, proceed directionally and methodically—define scope, boundaries, and terms before deeper inquiry.
Naming and placing Jaṭhara and Devakūṭa in the east presents cosmos as a knowable, name-bearing body; ‘between the oceans’ suggests containment of the world by waters, with mountains as structural ribs.
‘Between the oceans’ echoes the yajña-field bounded by enclosing lines; the east (pūrva) is the ritual-facing direction, so eastern boundary-mountains function like protective eastern posts of the vedi.
Nāma-rūpa (name-form) organization: the wise (manīṣiṇaḥ) articulate cosmic intelligibility; directional placement reflects buddhi’s ordering of experience under Īśvara.
Varāha Purāṇa 77.77.3 (eight boundary-mountains); Varāha Purāṇa 77.77.5-6 (Meru and its supports)
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic model of world-geography in which major mountains function as recognized natural boundaries (maryādā), reflecting how premodern Sanskrit texts organized space through directional and ocean-delimited features.
The verse names two eastern boundary-mountains, Jaṭhara and Devakūṭa. Their precise modern identification is uncertain; in scholarship they are generally treated as elements of Purāṇic cosmographic mapping rather than directly verifiable contemporary toponyms.
The verse primarily conveys a classificatory principle—recognizing natural features as boundaries that structure inhabited space—supporting a broader cultural emphasis on respecting geographic limits and the ordered layout of the world.
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