Varaha Purana 3.14: Adhyaya 3, Shloka 14
Nārada’s Account of a Former Birth and a Hymn to Nārāyaṇa
Pūrva Bhāga · Nārāyaṇa-stuti / Cosmological Prelude
पुरा पुरं शून्यमिदं ससर्ज्ज तदा स्थितत्वात् पुरुषः प्रधानः । जने प्रसिद्धः शरणं ममास्तु नारायणो वीतमलः पुराणः ॥ ३.१४ ॥
purā puraṃ śūnyam idaṃ sasarjja tadā sthitatvāt puruṣaḥ pradhānaḥ | jane prasiddhaḥ śaraṇaṃ mamāstu nārāyaṇo vītamalaḥ purāṇaḥ || 3.14 ||
purA puraM shUnyamidaM sasarjja tadA sthitatvAt puruShaH pradhAnaH | jane prasiddhaH sharaNaM mamAstu nArAyaNo vItamalaH purANaH || 3.14 ||
กาลก่อนพระองค์ทรงสร้างนครคือโลกนี้ประหนึ่งว่างเปล่า; แล้วด้วยความตั้งมั่นของพระองค์ ปุรุษะผู้เป็นปรธานตัตตวะจึงเป็นที่รองรับของมัน. ขอพระนารายณ์ผู้เลื่องลือในหมู่ชน ผู้ปราศจากมลทิน และผู้โบราณ จงเป็นที่พึ่งของข้าพเจ้าเถิด।
Sandhi Notes
- शून्यमिदं → शून्यम् + इदम्
- ममास्तु → मम + अस्तु
Varāha
Receptive; seeking śaraṇa amid cosmic questions of origin/support
How did the ‘world-city’ arise from seeming emptiness, and who is the steady support (puruṣa/pradhāna) that becomes refuge?
From apparent emptiness/undifferentiation the Lord manifests the ordered ‘pura’ (world-system) and, by steadfast abiding, supports it; therefore he alone is śaraṇa.
When confronted with instability or ‘emptiness,’ anchor mind in the Lord as substratum; practice śaraṇāgati as existential orientation.
Varāha (as speaker) frames Nārāyaṇa as creator-support and refuge, implicitly consoling and grounding Bhū-devī’s cosmological understanding.
The avatāra-speaker points beyond form to the cosmic function: Nārāyaṇa brings forth order from ‘śūnya’-like undifferentiation and remains the stable substratum—mirroring Varāha’s role of restoring Earth from the abyss.
Implicit: ‘sṛṣṭi’ as cosmic yajña—manifestation from undifferentiated potential, sustained by the Lord’s ‘sthiti’ (abiding steadiness).
Satkārya/avyakta-to-vyakta movement framed theistically: the Lord as both efficient and sustaining cause; ‘śaraṇa’ points to bhakti-vedānta refuge doctrine.
Implicit: creation theology underwrites avatāra doctrine.
Varāha Purāṇa: creation-and-dissolution discussions where Nārāyaṇa is cause and support
FAQs
It functions as an invocatory and cosmological statement typical of Purāṇic composition, linking creation language with a doxological conclusion (seeking refuge in Nārāyaṇa), reflecting the text’s broader Vaiṣṇava literary milieu.
No specific geographic site is named in this verse; the imagery is cosmological (“this world/city”), not topographical.
The verse’s philosophical instruction emphasizes seeking refuge in an idealized principle of purity and antiquity (Nārāyaṇa) and framing cosmological origins within a disciplined, steady foundational order (sthitatva).
Ask anything about this verse
Answers come straight from the texts, with the shlokas they draw on. Ask in your own words.
A free sign-in with Google or Apple keeps your chat saved across web and the app.
Read Varaha Purana in the Vedapath app
Scan the QR code to open this directly in the app, with word-by-word meanings, Sanskrit recitation where available, and more.
