Varaha Purana 166.13: Adhyaya 166, Shloka 13

The Greatness of the Sacred Pond Called Asikuṇḍa

Uttara Bhāga · Tīrtha-Māhātmya (Mathurā–Varāha Tīrtha Context)

Devanagari script

जय विश्वेश कर्त्तेश जय देव नमोऽस्तु ते ॥ श्रीवराह उवाच ॥ तीर्थैः स्तुतोऽहं वसुधे वचनं चेदमब्रुवम् ।

Recitation with translationVaraha Purana 166.13

Transliteration

jaya viśveśa kartteśa jaya deva namo 'stu te || śrīvarāha uvāca || tīrthaiḥ stuto 'haṁ vasudhe vacanaṁ cedam abruvam |

ITRANS transliteration

Translation

“ชัยแด่พระวิศเวศ ผู้เป็นเจ้าแห่งสากล; ชัยแด่พระกรฺตฺเตศ ผู้เป็นเจ้าแห่งการกระทำ; ชัยแด่พระเทวะ—ขอนอบน้อมแด่พระองค์” ศรีวราหะตรัสว่า: “โอ้ วสุธา (แผ่นดิน) เมื่อถูกเหล่าตีรถะสรรเสริญดังนี้ เราจึงกล่าวถ้อยคำนี้”

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Word by Word

• jaya: hail!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; exclamatory particle
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: ji (धातु)

• viśveśa: O Lord of the universe
• Type: Noun
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष): viśvasya īśaḥ; Masculine, Sambodhana, Eka-vacana
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: viśva + īśa (प्रातिपदिक)

• kartteśa: O Lord of doers/creator-lord
• Type: Noun
• Form: Tatpuruṣa (षष्ठी-तत्पुरुष): kartṝṇām īśaḥ / kartur īśaḥ; Masculine, Sambodhana, Eka-vacana
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: kartṛ + īśa (प्रातिपदिक)

• jaya: hail!
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; exclamatory particle
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: ji (धातु)

• deva: O god
• Type: Noun
• Form: Masculine, Sambodhana, Eka-vacana
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: deva (प्रातिपदिक)

• namaḥ: salutation
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; indeclinable salutation (नमः)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Root: namas (प्रातिपदिक)

• astu: may it be
• Type: Verb
• Form: Loṭ (लोट्, Imperative/benedictive), Prathama-puruṣa (3rd person), Eka-vacana; parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: as (धातु)

• te: to you
• Type: Noun
• Form: Pronoun; Caturthī (4th/चतुर्थी) or Ṣaṣṭhī (6th/षष्ठी) Eka-vacana; here with namaḥ = Dative (to you)
• Role: Sampradāna (सम्प्रदान)
• Root: tvad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• śrīvarāhaḥ: Śrī Varāha
• Type: Noun
• Form: Karmadhāraya: śrīmān varāhaḥ; Masculine, Prathamā, Eka-vacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: śrī + varāha (प्रातिपदिक)

• uvāca: said
• Type: Verb
• Form: Liṭ (लिट्, Perfect), Prathama-puruṣa, Eka-vacana; parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: vac (धातु)

• tīrthaiḥ: by the tīrthas
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter, Tṛtīyā (3rd/तृतीया), Bahu-vacana
• Role: Karaṇa (करण)
• Root: tīrtha (प्रातिपदिक)

• stutaḥ: praised
• Type: Verb
• Form: Kṛdanta (क्त, past passive participle); Masculine, Prathamā, Eka-vacana
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: stu (धातु)

• aham: I
• Type: Noun
• Form: Pronoun; Prathamā, Eka-vacana
• Role: Karta (कर्ता)
• Root: asmad (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• vasudhe: O Earth
• Type: Noun
• Form: Feminine (स्त्रीलिङ्ग), Sambodhana, Eka-vacana
• Role: Sambodhana (सम्बोधन)
• Root: vasudhā (प्रातिपदिक)

• vacanam: a statement/word
• Type: Noun
• Form: Neuter, Dvitīyā, Eka-vacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: vacana (प्रातिपदिक)

• ca: and
• Type: Indeclinable
• Form: Avyaya; conjunction (समुच्चय)
• Role: Sambandha (सम्बन्धः)
• Root: ca (अव्यय)

• idam: this
• Type: Noun
• Form: Pronoun; Neuter, Dvitīyā, Eka-vacana
• Role: Karma (कर्म)
• Root: idam (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)

• abruvam: I said/spoke
• Type: Verb
• Form: Luṅ (लुङ्, Aorist/Imperfect past), Uttama-puruṣa, Eka-vacana; parasmaipada
• Role: Kriyā (क्रिया)
• Root: brū (धातु)

Sandhi Notes

• namo + astu → namo 'stu (o + a → o, avagraha)
• stutaḥ + aham → stuto 'ham (visarga before vowel → o, avagraha)

Speaker and setting

Shanta and Adbhuta rasaSetting: Sacred network (tīrtha-mandala)

Speaker

Varāha

Bhu Devi and Varaha

In this verse

Varaha teaches her

Her state of mind

Attentive, receptive to narration about sacred places

What she asks

Implicit frame-setting: what response will Varāha give after being praised by the tīrthas, and how will it affect Earth and her tīrthas?

The teaching

Kind of teaching

Theology of sacred space

Subjects

Dialogue FrameSacred GeographyNarrative Theology

Core idea

Tīrthas are not inert sites; they participate in dharmic order and can invoke divine protection through stuti.

In practice

Approach pilgrimage places with reverence and ethical responsibility, seeing them as living nodes of dharma.

The Varaha avatara

Aspect

Dialogue

With the Earth

Addresses Vasudhā directly within a dialogic frame; receives praise mediated by the tīrthas.

Mathura and Krishna

Cross references

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Dialogue
• Vaiṣṇavism

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves the common Purāṇic dialogue architecture (speaker tags like ‘uvāca’) valuable for manuscript segmentation and oral-performance cues.

Which geographic location is identified?

The immediate verse addresses Vasudhā (Earth) rather than a site; Mathurā is established as the setting in the surrounding verses of the same chapter.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse emphasizes accountable speech in response to communal praise—an ethic of measured reply within a dialogic teaching format.