Varaha Purana 8.38 — Adhyaya 8, Shloka 38
Dialogue on the Ethical Limits of Subsistence and the Five Great Sacrifices
Dharmavyādha, Mātaṅga, and Prasanna
एवमुक्त्वा स चोत्थाय शप्त्वा नारीं तदा धरे । मा स्नुषाभिः समं श्वश्र्वा विश्वासो भवतु क्वचित् ॥ ८.३८ ॥
evam uktvā sa cotthāya śaptvā nārīṃ tadā dhare | mā snuṣābhiḥ samaṃ śvaśrvā viśvāso bhavatu kvacit || 8.38 ||
ఇలా చెప్పి అతడు లేచి, హే ధరా! ఆ స్త్రీని శపించి—‘అత్తకూ కోడళ్లకూ మధ్య ఎప్పుడూ విశ్వాసం కలగకూడదు’ అని అన్నాడు.
Varāha (default dialogue framework; explicit speaker not stated in the excerpt)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false,"earth_interaction":"Address to Dhara (Earth) as witness to a social curse; no physical interaction."}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":true,"speaker_role":"observer","bhu_devi_state":"uneasy, witnessing social fracture and its karmic fallout","key_question":"How do personal wrongs and curses crystallize into enduring social distrust within households?"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":true,"instruction_summary":"Household dharma is fragile: wrongdoing can provoke śāpa (curse) that institutionalizes mistrust between in-laws; therefore cultivate truthfulness and non-malice within family relations.","karmic_consequence":"Malice and deceit in the household breed lasting conflict and social instability; restraint and goodwill preserve harmony and merit."}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":false}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"ethics of speech and social karma","core_concept":"Vāk (speech) is performative: angered pronouncements can become enduring patterns; hence one must guard speech and heal relationships early.","practical_application":"Avoid impulsive curses/harsh speech; practice mediation and truthful conduct between generations in a household."}
Subject Matter: ["Ethics","Social Conduct","Household Relations"]
Primary Rasa: raudra
Secondary Rasa: bībhatsa
Type: household relational space
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 8.8.39 (complementary injunction against wishing death)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A figure rises in anger and utters a curse toward a woman, while Earth (Dhara) is invoked as silent witness; the moment freezes into a symbolic ‘rift’ between mother-in-law and daughters-in-law.","item_prompts":["standing figure mid-rise","outstretched hand in cursing gesture","woman recoiling or downcast","symbolic crack/veil between two groups of women (śvaśrū and snuṣā)","earth motif (brown-green ground, lotus/Prithvi symbol)"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: dramatic hand gesture; stylized women on either side separated by patterned border; Dhara implied via earth-toned base and lotus motifs.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: gold-backed central curser; ornate jewelry; women in rich saris; symbolic divider rendered as gilded arch/partition.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: expressive faces; interior courtyard; emphasis on psychological tension rather than spectacle.","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: narrative tableau with architectural partition; delicate depiction of women’s groups; subdued but sharp emotional contrast."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"tense, dramatic","suggested_raga":"Todi","pace":"medium-fast","voice_tone":"sharp, forceful"}
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic-style narrative motif used to frame social ethics, reflecting how classical Sanskrit literature sometimes encodes household norms and anxieties—here, conflict and distrust within extended family structures.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; the address “Dhare” functions as an epithet for Earth (Pṛthivī/Dharā) within the text’s broader dialogic framework.
The verse articulates a cautionary (and strongly worded) social observation about distrust between mothers-in-law and daughters-in-law, presented as a curse-formula rather than a universal prescription.
Ask anything about this verse
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