Varaha Purana 28.1: Adhyaya 28, Shloka 1
The Manifestation of Māyā as Durgā/Kātyāyanī and the Slaying of Vaitrāsura
प्रजापाल उवाच । कथं माया समुत्पन्ना दुर्गा कात्यायनी शुभा । आदिक्षेत्रे स्थिता सूक्ष्मा पृथग्मूर्त्ता व्यजायत ॥ २८.१ ॥
prajāpāla uvāca | kathaṃ māyā samutpannā durgā kātyāyanī śubhā | ādikṣetre sthitā sūkṣmā pṛthagmūrtā vyajāyata || 28.1 ||
ปรชาปาลกล่าวว่า “มายาอันเป็นมงคล ผู้เป็นทุรคาและมีนามว่ากาตยายนี เกิดขึ้นได้อย่างไร? ทั้งที่ประทับอยู่ ณ อาทิกษेत्रในรูปอันละเอียด แล้วจึงบังเกิดเป็นรูปกายที่แยกต่างหาก”
Prajāpāla
FAQs
It preserves a Purāṇic inquiry-formula in which a named interlocutor asks about the origin and manifestation of a goddess identified with Māyā, reflecting the text’s layered integration of cosmology and sacred-site framing.
Ādikṣetra is named as the locus of the goddess’s subtle abiding; the excerpt does not provide enough internal markers to securely map it to a single modern site without additional verses or manuscript context.
No direct prescriptive ethic is stated in this verse; its primary function is doctrinal and narrative, setting up an explanation of how a subtle principle (Māyā) becomes a distinct manifest form associated with a sacred place.
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