Varaha Purana 31.12: Adhyaya 31, Shloka 12

The Manifestation of Viṣṇu’s Form for Cosmic Governance

the Vaiṣṇava Creation Narrative

Devanagari script

तस्य रूपस्य विस्तारं पातालं नालसंस्थितम् । कर्णिकायां तथा मेरुस्तन्मध्ये ब्रह्मणो भवः ॥ ३१.१२ ॥

Sanskrit recitationVaraha Purana 31.12

Transliteration

tasya rūpasya vistāraṃ pātālaṃ nālasaṃsthitam | karṇikāyāṃ tathā merus tanmadhye brahmaṇo bhavaḥ || 31.12 ||

Translation

ในความแผ่กว้างแห่งรูปนั้น ปาตาละตั้งอยู่ในก้าน (นาละ) และเขาพระสุเมรุก็ตั้งอยู่ในเกสรกลาง (กรรณิกา) ส่วน ณ กึ่งกลางนั้นเองเป็นบ่อเกิดแห่งพระพรหมา

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Word by Word

• तस्य: of it/of him
• तस्य: सम्बन्ध (Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम-प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: षष्ठी-विभक्ति, एकवचन

• रूपस्य: of the form
• रूपस्य: सम्बन्ध (Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: रूप (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• विस्तारम्: the extent/expanse
• विस्तारम्: कर्म/विषय (Object/Topic of description)
• Type: Noun
• Root: विस्तार (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, द्वितीया, एकवचन; (उपमेय/वर्ण्य)

• पातालम्: Pātāla (netherworld)
• पातालम्: समनाधिकरण (Apposition)
• Type: Noun
• Root: पाताल (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; यहाँ ‘विस्तारम्’ इत्यस्य समनाधिकरण-विशेष्य (appositional)

• नाल-संस्थितम्: situated in the stalk
• नाल-संस्थितम्: विशेषण (Qualifier)
• Type: Adjective
• Root: नाल (प्रातिपदिक) + संस्थित (स्था धातु, क्त)
• Form: तत्पुरुष-समास (नाले संस्थितम्), क्त-कृदन्त; नपुंसकलिङ्ग, प्रथमा/द्वितीया, एकवचन; विशेषण (of पातालम्/विस्तारम्)

• कर्णिकायाम्: in the pericarp
• कर्णिकायाम्: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Locative)
• Type: Noun
• Root: कर्णिका (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: स्त्रीलिङ्ग, सप्तमी, एकवचन

• तथा: likewise
• तथा: क्रियाविशेषण/समुच्चय (Adverb/Connector)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तथा (अव्यय)
• Form: अव्यय (adverb): ‘likewise/and also’

• मेरुः: Mount Meru
• मेरुः: कर्ता (Karta/Subject, nominal clause)
• Type: Noun
• Root: मेरु (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन

• तत्-मध्ये: in the middle of that
• तत्-मध्ये: अधिकरण (Adhikaraṇa/Locative)
• Type: Indeclinable
• Root: तद् (सर्वनाम) + मध्य (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: अव्ययीभाव-समास (तस्य मध्ये), अव्ययार्थे सप्तमी-एकवचन-रूपेण निबद्धम्; ‘in its middle’

• ब्रह्मणः: of Brahmā
• ब्रह्मणः: सम्बन्ध (Genitive)
• Type: Noun
• Root: ब्रह्मन् (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, षष्ठी, एकवचन

• भवः: origin/manifestation
• भवः: कर्ता/विधेय (Predicate noun)
• Type: Noun
• Root: भव (प्रातिपदिक)
• Form: पुंलिङ्ग, प्रथमा, एकवचन; ‘उत्पत्तिः/आविर्भावः’ अर्थे

Speaker

Varāha

Tags

• Classical Literature
• Purāṇic Cosmography
• Vaiṣṇavism
• Ancient Geography

FAQs

What is the historical significance of this verse?

It preserves a Purāṇic cosmographic model that uses lotus anatomy (stalk and pericarp) to structure the vertical geography of the universe, a common idiom in early Sanskrit cosmology.

Which geographic location is identified?

Meru is identified as the central cosmic mountain in Purāṇic geography (a mythic axis mundi rather than a single, securely mapped modern mountain), while Pātāla denotes the nether regions in the cosmological vertical schema.

What is the primary ethical instruction?

The verse primarily conveys a cosmological ordering principle—an account of structured space and origins—rather than a direct ethical injunction; its philosophical instruction lies in presenting the world as an integrated, intelligible system.