Varaha Purana 125.142: Adhyaya 125, Shloka 142
The Cycle of Māyā
Illusory Causation and Perceptual Reversal
न तत्र किंचिज्जानामि किमिदं किं प्रवर्त्तते ॥ निषादीगर्भसम्भूतस्तव पत्न्यभवं ततः
na tatra kiṁcij jānāmi kim idaṁ kiṁ pravarttate || niṣādīgarbhasambhūtas tava patny abhavaṁ tataḥ
ที่นั่นข้าพเจ้าไม่รู้อะไรเลย—นี่คืออะไร เกิดอะไรขึ้น? แล้วต่อมาข้าพเจ้าเกิดจากครรภ์ของหญิงนิษาทิ และได้เป็นภรรยาของท่าน
Ṛṣi (narrating personal transformation experience)
Varaha Avatara Context: {"is_varaha_focus":false}
Bhu Devi Dialogue: {"is_dialogue":false,"speaker_role":"observer"}
Mathura Mandala: {"is_mathura_related":false}
Dharma Shastra: {"has_dharma_rule":false}
Vrata Mahatmya: {"has_vrata":false}
Cosmic Boar Symbolism: {"has_symbolism":true,"symbolic_interpretation":"Māyā is shown as total identity-reconstruction: memory, social location, and relational status can be re-scripted, revealing the contingency of ego and worldly roles.","vedantic_connection":"Ahaṅkāra and upādhi: the ‘self’ identified with body/social markers is mutable; the witnessing self is obscured when māyā fully operates."}
Philosophical Teaching: {"has_teaching":true,"teaching_type":"māyā as experiential delusion","core_concept":"Without discernment, one can be swept into narratives that feel absolute; māyā can overwrite even ‘who I am’.","practical_application":"Cultivate steady self-inquiry and remembrance (smaraṇa) during life-changes; treat roles/status as provisional and avoid pride or contempt based on birth/identity."}
Subject Matter: ["Māyā and altered perception","Identity transformation","Narrative causality","Social descriptors"]
Primary Rasa: Adbhuta
Secondary Rasa: Karuṇa
Type: liminal ritual space
Related Themes: Varāha Purāṇa 125.142 (return to prior state after bathing)
Visual Art Cues: {"scene_description":"A bewildered narrator in a transformed life-scene: he finds himself in a Niṣādī woman’s birth-context and then as ‘your wife,’ conveying the shock of a rewritten identity.","item_prompts":["confused facial expression","domestic scene indicating new social role","contrast motif (sage’s ascetic items faintly absent/ghosted)","narrative disjunction (dreamlike background)"],"kerala_mural_prompt":"Kerala mural: dreamlike domestic tableau with strong expressions; muted veil-like overlays to signal māyā; emphasis on psychological bewilderment.","tanjore_prompt":"Tanjore: symbolic rather than literal—central figure with split-scene panels (before/after) framed in gold; māyā as patterned backdrop.","mysore_prompt":"Mysore: subtle, emotive portraiture; soft interior setting; gentle surreal cues (floating veil, blurred edges).","pahari_prompt":"Pahari: narrative vignette with delicate interiors; emphasis on storytelling and the sudden turn of fate; pastel haze for māyā."}
Audio Atmosphere: {"recitation_mood":"unsettled-wondrous","suggested_raga":"Todi","pace":"medium-fast","voice_tone":"breathless, bewildered, then heavy with consequence"}
FAQs
It illustrates how Purāṇic narratives depict māyā as experiential disorientation and radical change, often to convey limits of ordinary cognition.
No new place-name appears in this verse; it continues the experiential account following the tīrtha instruction.
The verse underscores epistemic humility: in extraordinary circumstances, one may not grasp what is occurring, emphasizing human cognitive limits.
Ask anything about this verse
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